15 Black Friday Stats You Need to Know in 2021
Black Friday 2021 is almost upon us! If you haven’t already, it’s time to check your annual Black Friday stats and make sure your customer experience can meet the demands of the shopping onslaught headed your way.
The best approach to ensuring a successful Black Friday is to look at insights and trends from years past. Here are 15 important statistics to keep in mind as you gear up for the biggest shopping season of the year.
Online Black Friday shopping gets bigger every year
- In 2020, 65% of people surveyed report doing their Black Friday shopping online to avoid crowds. (source)
- In 2019, Black Friday beat Cyber Monday as the busiest online shopping day: 93.2 million shopped online on Black Friday vs. 83.3 million on Cyber Monday. (source)
- On Black Friday 2019, more people shopped online than in stores — 142.2 million shopped online, while 124 million shopped in-store. (source)
Customer experience takeaway: While brick and mortar stores are sure to see an uptick in sales during Black Friday 2021, the biggest shopping event of the year is trending more and more towards eCommerce. Focus on online coupons, email marketing campaigns and mobile optimization to get your CX on track.
Mobile devices are dominating
- Last year, 73% of online Black Friday shoppers visited retail sites via their mobile devices, and 56% of online conversions happened on mobile. (source)
- In 2020, 42% of all online shopping is done from smartphones (up 55%), and $28B more than last year will be spent on smartphones. (source)
- Mobile devices are used by 75% of shoppers to research products, compare prices, and make purchases — up from 66% last year. (source)
- Desktop traffic is decreasing each year. (source)
Customer experience takeaway: These insights make it clear that mobile drives higher traffic, and more people are ditching desktops for other devices. That means it’s absolutely critical to optimize your mobile experience. The last thing you want is customers leaving items in their cart and giving up because they’re frustrated with the functionality on your mobile site.
Black Friday is no longer just a single day
- 75% of all retailers are offering discounts before Black Friday, and many major retailers are reinventing Black Friday deals to last days … or even weeks. It’s becoming a long-tail holiday event instead of a one-day affair. In fact, it’s happening right now at some retailers. (source)
- In 2019, 82% of consumers planned to finish purchasing holiday gifts after Black Friday, with 6% saying they would not be done until after Christmas. (source)
- The Saturday and Sunday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday account for 45% of site traffic during Cyber Weekend. (source)
- In 2020, brands felt they had to release sales sooner to avoid shipping delays because of the pandemic, a pattern that is likely to continue this year thanks to supply chain shortages. (source)
Customer experience takeaway: Early Black Friday deals have already become a trend, and the supply chain issues will only increase consumers’ urgency to get their shopping done early. You can capitalize by promoting and offering sales in the days and weeks leading up to Black Friday 2021. Then, because we all know there are procrastinators out there, extend promotions through the weekend and beyond to get the most of the holiday shopping season.
Who are Black Friday shoppers?
- Millennials were the biggest Black Friday spenders in 2019, shelling out an average of $509.50 on Black Friday purchases, compared to an average of just $382.40 in 2018. (source)
- Women make up the majority of Black Friday shoppers — but men are quickly closing the gap, with 45.1% male in 2020. (source)
- The five top states planning to spend money on Black Friday sales in 2020 included Georgia at 52%, Wisconsin at 51%, Illinois at 50%, Virginia at 48%, and New York at 47%. (source)
- The age of many Black Friday shoppers will be over 60 due to the pandemic forcing older Americans to rely more on smartphones and adapt to retail technologies. (source)
Customer experience takeaway: While the younger crowd still makes up the most active Black Friday shoppers, it’s a shopping spree made for everyone. Most brands will want to appeal to a broad range of demographic segments with their campaigns. And now that older generations are turning more to online shopping and mobile devices, it’s important to make sure your mobile site is easy for them to navigate (think bigger fonts, spacing, and clear pricing).
While nothing is for certain (especially in Covid times), past Black Friday stats clearly show that it’s continuously evolving and stands to be bigger than ever this year. Hopefully, your marketing campaigns, coupon codes and site optimizations are ready. Now go forth and profit!
