Digital assessment of Black Friday 2020

Friday, November 27, 2020 was the Black Friday.

A year quite different from all the others!

Indeed, the transition to digital for many merchants throughout 2020 and the resulting increased online competition has turned the traditional pattern of what is the biggest selling day in e-commerce upside down.

We have analyzed the performance, traffic and online shopping behavior of the online stores Panierdachat; and unsurprisingly, the Black Friday craze has been there this year but with a less marked trend and differences than in 2019.

In general, consumers, even if they have anticipated their purchases to take advantage of the various early promotions offered by retailers, have continued the tradition by spending as much this season if not more.

In order to show the popularity of Black Friday, we compared the results of online stores between this Friday and regular Fridays. Here are the results of our study.

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Back in numbers on the Black Friday Season 2020

Results based on all Panierdachat stores (vast majority in Quebec) – comparison made between Friday, November 27, 2020 (known as “Black Friday” or “Vendredi Fou”) and the average results of Friday, October 30, 2020 (known as “Regular Friday”).

Even if Cyber Monday remains one of the flagship days of online shopping, the interest for Black Friday remains higher in terms of sales.

Black Friday, the most prolific day for online stores

The first step in the online acquisition tunnel is the visit, and at this level Black Friday starts well with 2.2 times as many unique visitors to the stores.

A less marked trend since consumers had already increased their online presence since the beginning of the year.

More customers ordering more…

Orders are also following the logic of the visit figures with 3.2 times more orders placed during this Black Friday than on a regular Friday.

…And spend more.

With its great discounts, Black Friday attracts many visitors looking for the best deals.

And this clientele looking for only the best deal reduces the number of products per order. There are on average 7.9 products per order during a regular Friday and 6 during Black Friday.

This decrease in products per order brings with it a decrease in the average basket, going from $150 on a regular Friday to $100 on Black Friday.

An average basket that is however higher than the previous year, which could be partly explained by a larger stock that merchants would have tried to sell due to unsold products at the beginning of 2020.

Is Black Friday interesting for online stores?

With highly targeted purchases and sometimes taking advantage of large discounts, the question would be whether Black Friday ultimately brings a better profit to the stores.

And the answer is a big YES! The turnover of the online stores has been multiplied on average by almost 2.2 times during this Black Friday compared to a regular Friday.

The importance of the role of social networks during Black Friday

In 2020, Facebook accounts for 94% of visits to online stores from a social network.

Thanks to their pampered community for many years, Facebook is still the predominant tool for online stores. The simplicity of advertising on Facebook also pushes them to use it during important moments such as Black Friday.

Instagram more and more friendly with brands and shops

In 2020, Instagram has been pushing brands to use their platform by providing them with many relevant marketing tools:

• Instagram Shopping allowing to tag products on posts leading directly to the product’s purchase page
• More freedom on the stories (adding external links, product tags, profiles…)
• Advertisements that can be better targeted

Instagram is the 2nd social network that attracted the most visitors to online stores in 2020 with 5% of social networks.

However, there is a slight decline relative to 2019 coinciding with the decline in mobile usage. Also, we note a significant share for the use of stories in favor of traditional publications.

The use of social networks during Black Friday

During Black Friday, Internet users will go on their own to the brand sites they intuitively think of to see the day’s promotions.
Then, it will be the communication of the promotions here and there that will guide them in their search for the best offers.

And for this, the most relevant tool is the social network.

Visits from social networks on Black Friday are almost 1.5 times more important than on a regular Friday. With a much higher number coming from Facebook and more than 2 times more for visitors coming from Instagram.

But who are the real Black Friday shoppers?

This year, Black Friday was placed under the sign of responsible and local purchasing, taking advantage of promotions of quality products that fill a real need among consumers.

Online visitors represent many different types of consumers:

• Those, who make 100% of their purchases online
• Multi-channel buying in store and online
• Those who explore the online catalog before going to the store to make the purchase (web-to-store)

During this Black Friday 2020, a little more than 5 out of 10 Internet users were surfing on cell phones, a little more than 3 on computers and 1 out of 10 was on a tablet. The importance of a responsive store must always remain at the heart of your user experience strategy.

We note that the share of mobile has slightly decreased compared to 2019, as Internet users spend more time on their desktop with the possibility in this context to telework and order from home. 

New visitors or loyal customers?

This year, many merchants have gone online allowing a more varied choice. Consumers have been more in search of the right opportunity by shopping at different places and therefore slightly less loyal than last year.

And for this 2020 Black Friday, the stores had on average 70% new customers or 3.5% more than a regular Friday.

A few words of conclusion

This year, Black Friday remains a success for our merchants’ online sales. However, the difference between Black Friday and a regular Friday is less pronounced than it was in 2019, probably due to early promotions spread out over time throughout 2020.

Results based on all Panierdachat stores (vast majority in Quebec) – comparison made between Friday, November 27, 2020 (known as “Black Friday” or “Black Friday”) and the average results of Friday, October 30, 2020 (known as “Regular Friday”).