"Cyber Weekend" more attractive to consumers than Black Friday and Cyber Monday
A recent study by Bazaarvoice shows the growing interest of consumers in Black Friday offers on the following Saturday and Sunday. As a result, the number of shoppers on this year's so-called "Cyber Weekend" increased by 26% compared to 2018.
Enthusiasm for Black Friday itself continued to increase year-on-year. Findings from the Bazaarvoice network show a 20% increase in the number of shoppers on Black Friday this year and an 18% increase on Cyber Monday.
This means that the number of shoppers worldwide on Black Friday has grown by an astonishing 86% in just five years. Cyber Monday has also increased by 82 percent since 2015 - although both are surpassed by the weekend in between, when the numbers more than doubled - 102 percent on average.
Sophie Light Wilkinson, VP Marketing, EMEA at Bazaarvoice: "We are observing a completely natural - tactical - shopper behavior here. In response to the high demand for deals and bargains on Black Friday, shoppers are spending more time researching. This can only be a good thing for brands and retailers, as it not only extends the buying window, but also the time spent searching for new and alternative products."
On the Sunday before Cyber Monday, the total number of page views by consumers increased the most worldwide (20%). This means that more research is done on this day and highlights the opportunity for brands and retailers to attract potential customers with products and offers at the last minute.
When looking at the medium used, it becomes clear that mobile devices continue to play an important role as a point of purchase. 47% of transactions on Black Friday took place this way, which suggests an increasingly important role for social shopping.
"Sure, it can be tempting to join the race to the bottom. But brands and retailers that recognize changing preferences and offer informative, interactive online and offline experiences will both retain their existing customers and attract new ones," says Sophie Light Wilkinson.
In its annual survey, Bazaarvoice polled more than 2000 consumers in the UK, US, France and Germany. It found that the number of consumers who value the ability to discover and buy directly from social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest has increased by 38% in 12 months.
The figures in the study come from the Bazaarvoice network, which includes 6200 brand and retailer websites and all transactions that take place on them on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Key figures used in data processing are defined as:
- Page views: A page view is a view (whether with or without UGC) of a page that is tracked by Bazaarvoice Analytics using tracking code. These can be product, category or other pages, depending on which Bazaarvoice products are implemented.
- Shopper: A person who shops on the Bazaarvoice network and is identified by Personalization ProfileID, BVID, BVBrandID or Hash-UA-IP, in order of preference by availability.
