Black Friday 2020 Didn’t Disappoint Online Sellers | Finch

Black Friday 2020 is over for the most part (some sellers continue to offer discounts into December and Black Friday was on Dec. 4 in France). And even with an out-of-control — and perhaps partially because of — a global pandemic, online sales didn’t disappoint.

According to Adobe, consumers in the US spent 21.6% more online on Black Friday in 2020 than in 2019.¹

That makes Black Friday 2020, the second-biggest online shopping day in US history; second only to Cyber Monday 2019. That’s in keeping with predictions about the online holiday shopping season made earlier in the year.

Online Sales for Cyber Monday and Surrounding Days Were Also High

Increased eCommerce sales weren’t restricted to Black Friday. Online sales were also high in the days leading up to Black Friday and the days following.

Adobe reported that US shoppers spent $5.1 billion online on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) itself, and more than $3 billion each day of the week before Thanksgiving.¹

Those numbers don’t include Small Business Day (Nov. 28 in the US) or Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving). When you add in the days surrounding Black Friday, online sellers found gold in their holiday stockings

• Amazon reported that its sellers worldwide made more than $4.8 billion in sales between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1 (Black Friday through Cyber Monday) — a 60% increase over 2019.²
• Shopify reported that its clients’ sales were up 76% over 2019’s sales by the end of day Nov. 28.²
• Cyber Monday sales in the US hit $10.8 billion — in one day — a 15.1% increase over 2019.³

Black Friday Delivered for eCommerce Companies throughout Europe Too

Online sales were also robust on Black Friday in Europe, which has more recently adopted the US trend of a day of binge shopping after a day of binge eating on Thanksgiving.

• In the UK, online sales were up 35% over 2019.⁴
• Retailers in Germany had 56% more sales on Black Friday 2020 compared to 2019, and 60% for Black Week 2020 compared to 2019.⁵
• Affiliate marketing network ShareASale reported significant Black Friday sales growth for its affiliates in Germany, Italy, and Spain, and nearly 50% growth for affiliates in the Nordics.⁶

Finch Clients See Black Friday Success

Finch clients around the world shared in the success this Black Friday. We pulled anonymized data using Finch Insights for clients for Black Friday 2020 compared to 2019. Data was taken for Finch clients running the most expansive Black Friday promotions. Our data shows that not only did Finch clients see Black Friday success, promotions helped them realize more revenue at a better ROAS.

Here’s how Black Friday 2020 looked for the Finch clients running the most expansive Black Friday promotions around the globe compared to Black Friday 2019.

• An average revenue increase of 197%
• An average cost increase of just 54%
• Improved efficiency with a 93% higher ROAS

Not All Good News: Brick-and-Mortar Stores Saw More Red than Black this Black Friday

Some of the increased online spend came at the expense of brick-and-mortar retailers, which saw reduced traffic worldwide due to the pandemic, store closures, and stay-at-home orders.

• • Sales at US brick-and-mortar retail stores dropped 23.9% over the Black Friday weekend.³
  • Sales at physical retailers in the UK on Black Friday were the lowest ever recorded.⁴
  • In the US, traffic to physical stores was down 52%.⁷
  • In the UK, it was down at least 58%.⁴

Physical stores that had already pivoted to eCommerce or put more effort into eCommerce benefited. US retailer Target’s online sales were 156% higher for the days before Black Friday than in 2019.⁸ The retailer didn’t report store traffic numbers.

What’s Next?

As the 2020 holiday shopping season wraps up, online shopping will remain a go-to for consumers. That’s projected to be true even after COVID-19 is just a bad memory.

Increasing demand and customers though means increasing competition. Strategy and understanding customer needs and expectations will be more important than ever for eTailers to continue to compete. Read our take on some of the biggest challenges facing eCommerce in 2021.

And, if you can benefit from strategic expertise to grow your online revenues, contact Finch for a demo on how we can help you efficiently and effectively grow your eCommerce revenue while maintaining costs.

1 Black Friday online shopping comes in $9B, $3.6B on smartphones, TechCrunch, Nov. 28, 2020, techcrunch.com/2020/11/28/black-friday-online-sales-numbers/

2 Amazon says sellers racked up more than $4.8 billion in sales over weekend, Reuters, Nov. 30, 2020, www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-holidayshopping-cybermonday/cyber-monday-set-to-be-biggest-online-shopping-day-in-u-s-history-idUSKBN28A1ER

3 Cyber Monday Sales Hit $10.8 Billion: Black Friday Weekend By The Numbers, Forbes. Dec. 1, 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/shelleykohan/2020/12/01/cyber-monday-sales-hit-108-billion-black-friday-weekend-by-the-numbers/?sh=26dd92826eb0

4 Big fall in Black Friday UK retail sales despite online spending boom, The Guardian, Nov. 27, 2020, www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/27/big-fall-in-black-friday-uk-retail-sales-despite-online-spending-boom

5 Neue Extreme: 56 Prozent Umsatzplus sorgt für Verkaufsrekord am Black Friday, Klarna, Nov. 30, 2020, onlinemarketing.de/e-commerce/umsatzplus-verkaufsrekord-black-friday

6 Awin Black Friday global highlights 2020, ShareASale, Dec. 1, 2020, blog.shareasale.com/2020/12/01/awin-black-friday-global-highlights-2020/

7 Black Friday shopping in stores craters 52% during pandemic as e-commerce sales surge, CNBC, Nov. 28, 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/11/28/black-friday-traffic-in-stores-craters-52percent-during-pandemic.html

8 Winners and losers of Black Friday 2020, Retail Dive, Nov. 28, 2020, www.retaildive.com/news/winners-and-losers-of-black-friday-2020/589634/