Cyber Week has come and gone and we’re still reeling from what we learned during the five, high-traffic shopping days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday — known as the “Cyber Five”. This year, Cyber Five reached unprecedented heights, with Cyber Monday driving $38 billion in revenue overall. This was a 7.8% increase year-over-year from 2022.
Below, we cover top Cyber Week trends and discuss how these patterns can be leveraged to market better in 2024.
Cyber Five 2023 Recap
How did Cyber Five perform this year? According to Adlucent:
- Thanksgiving spending rose to $5.6 billion, a 5.5% YoY increase.
- Black Friday drove $9.8 billion in revenue, a 7.5% YoY increase.
- Cyber Monday reached a staggering $38 billion, a 7.8% YoY increase.
Overall, from November 1 to Cyber Monday, holiday sales topped $109.3 billion, a hefty 7.3% YoY increase from 2022.
Cyber Week Trends
Here are some of the top Cyber Week trends we observed in this holiday shopping season.
More Discounts Inspire More Spending
Even in the face of rising inflation and prices, consumers were willing to spend their dollars during Cyber Five if holiday deals and discounts were high enough. In fact, consumers used discount codes for 29% of the orders they placed over the entirety of Cyber Five. This ranged even higher on certain days (32% on Sunday of Cyber Five, up 26% from 2022). According to Google, many shoppers reported holding out to buy items until they saw at least a 30% discount for them.
BNPL Use is on the Rise
According to Adobe, Cyber Five 2023 saw a remarkable rise in the use of BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later)-based payments year-over-year. This shows the growing trend of consumers opting for credit options to fund larger purchases. During Cyber Week, the total value of BNPL transactions reached an impressive $940 million. This marked a substantial increase of 42.5% compared to the previous year.
Shoppers are willing to Spend More for the right Deal
Also according to Adobe, over the course of Cyber Five weekend, there was a noteworthy surge in Average Order Value (AOV), by 3.2%. This underscores consumers' willingness to open their wallets when presented with offers that align with their preferences and expectations.
Cyber Five Weekend Is Strategically Valuable for Advertisers
Over the course of Cyber Five weekend, the industry only saw a modest 7% YoY increase in revenue during Small Business Saturday (November 25). This indicates there’s a strategic advantage in boosting a brand’s ad budget during a point in Cyber Five week when other brands may be scaling back. Not only will this capitalize on lower media costs, it also helps position brands at the forefront of consumers’ minds.
Slow Loading Times Lead to Customer Drop Off
This Cyber Five, there was a correlation between average web page loading times and user drop off. According to Yottaa, commerce websites that converted browsing shoppers to purchasers had an average page loading time of 3.66 seconds. Conversely, websites that had users drop off without making a purchase averaged a web page loading time of 5.17 seconds. In 2022, the load time for departing visitors averaged 5.9 seconds. Year-over-year, this represented a decrease in shopper tolerance for slowing page loading times by a whole second.
When examining data analyzing the behavior across mobile and desktop shoppers, the insights become even more intriguing. Desktop shoppers who eventually bounced waited for over 2 seconds longer than their mobile counterparts. These findings highlight a significant trend. Mobile shoppers prioritize faster experiences, while desktop shoppers exhibit greater patience with slower load times.
Shorter Session Times Indicate Consumers Shop with Purpose
Despite a 2% drop in the number of shoppers this Cyber Week compared to last year, orders surged by an impressive 17%. Notably, the average session depth, indicating the number of webpages visited during a shopping session, experienced a collective decline of 13%. Shoppers, it seems, were laser-focused on their mission to make specific purchases.
Rather than engaging in leisurely browsing or exploring additional items, shoppers efficiently navigated to product pages, adding their desired items to the shopping cart, and promptly proceeded to checkout. This intentional shopping behavior is likely due to the broader economic trends of 2023, marked by a global economic downturn and a shift away from impulsive buying tendencies observed over the past three years.
More Shoppers Browsed on Mobile but Converted on Desktop
As we know, it’s a mobile-first world. This was reinforced by this year's Cyber Week trends, with mobile devices emerging as the go-to choice for browsing. Specifically, mobile devices drove a significant 51.8% of all eCommerce sales. This was a notable increase from last year's 49.9%, according to Adobe's insights. Shoppers seemed to favor the convenience of mobile devices, particularly during the holiday season, whether they were on the move or enjoying some downtime at home.
But, when it comes to conversion rates, the data takes an interesting turn. Mobile shoppers during Cyber Week boasted an average conversion rate of 3.18%. In contrast, desktop shoppers took a notable lead with a conversion rate of 5.22%. This echoes a similar pattern observed during last year's Cyber 5, when mobile shoppers also exhibited a lower conversion rate than desktop customers (3.02% compared to 5.57%).
These findings prompt a few interesting insights:
- Consumers gravitate towards mobile devices for leisurely browsing, but they’re more likely to make their purchases on desktop.
- It’s possible some websites may not have been optimized to deliver a seamless buying experience on mobile platforms. Given the propensity of mobile shoppers to bounce quickly if pages load slowly or suboptimally, the lower conversion rates from mobile devices could signify challenges related to mobile site performance and user experience.
TL;DR
Cyber Week this year brought record-breaking sales. Cyber Monday alone generating an impressive $38 billion in revenue, marking a substantial 7.8% year-over-year increase.
Notable Cyber Week Trends:
- Discounts Drive Spending: Despite rising inflation, consumers readily opened their wallets during Cyber Five when presented with compelling discounts. Discount codes were used in nearly 29% of orders, rising to 32% on Sunday, signifying the allure of substantial discounts.
- BNPL on the Rise: Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment methods gained significant traction, with a remarkable 42.5% YoY increase, reaching a total transaction value of $940 million during Cyber Week. This reflects consumers' growing preference for credit options, particularly for larger purchases.
- Higher Spending for the Right Deals: Cyber Five witnessed a noteworthy 3.2% increase in Average Order Value (AOV), highlighting consumers' willingness to spend more when offered deals aligned with their preferences.
- Strategic Value of Small Business Saturday: Advertisers can strategically benefit from increasing ad budgets during Cyber Five's Small Business Saturday, capitalizing on lower media costs and heightened visibility among consumers.
- Load Times Impact User Behavior: Load times played a pivotal role in user behavior during Cyber Five. Websites with faster page loading times (3.66 seconds) converted browsing shoppers into purchasers. On the other hand, those with slower loading times (5.17 seconds) experienced higher user drop-offs. This indicates shoppers' declining tolerance for slower load times compared to the previous year.
- Mobile vs. Desktop Shopping Behavior: Mobile devices dominated as the preferred choice for browsing, accounting for 51.8% of all eCommerce sales, up from 49.9% in 2022. However, when it came to conversion rates, desktop outperformed mobile. Desktop shoppers achieved a conversion rate of 5.22%, surpassing mobile shoppers at 3.18%. This trend suggests that while consumers enjoy browsing on mobile for convenience, they often switch to desktop for actual purchases, potentially due to suboptimal mobile site experiences.
- Intentional Shopping Behavior: Despite a 2% drop in shopper numbers, Cyber Five 2023 saw a remarkable 17% increase in orders. Shoppers exhibited purposeful buying behavior by visiting fewer webpages, emphasizing the importance of streamlined, efficient shopping experiences.
Ready to leverage Cyber Five trends to supercharge your 2024 mobile app marketing strategy? Reach out to our team to get your marketing plan ready for a record-breaking new year.
