Black Friday 2018: Analysis & Lessons for 2019
Black Friday 2018 has now come and gone – and the dust has settled!
Barclaycard reported it processed 1,087 transactions per second between 1pm and 2pm, which is a record high. According to initial figures, UK shoppers spent as much as £1.5 billion this year which is a huge opportunity for ecommerce businesses.
Here’s Oneclick’s findings from Black Friday this year and key takeaways for 2019:
Compared to standard shopping day revenue figures over the last 30 days, we saw an average revenue increase for our clients of 515% on Black Friday. This has cemented just how important Black Friday revenue can be for some clients and goes to show that businesses big and small across all industries can benefit from the shopping event of the year.
We found that the earlier our clients planned their Black Friday offers the better they performed on the day – this enabled us to create ads, research new keywords and make optimisations in preparation for the big day.
The breakdown of recorded conversions by the hour on Black Friday started like most shopping days in that they started to pick up after 9 AM. However, for Black Friday we saw this continued well into the late evening – finally dropping off after 9 / 10 PM. Buying habits for standard shopping days usually see conversions trail off much sooner in the day, but for Black Friday customers continued to purchase well into the evening.
Mobile dominated the revenue by device compared to desktop computers and tablet devices – a trend that has continued from Black Friday 2017. Mobile shows no sign of stopping so it’s critical that your ecommerce website is mobile-friendly, otherwise customers will simply leave.
Page load time has a big effect on conversion rates: Google recently found that 53% of mobile site visits leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.
However, we found that the average order value is much higher for desktop computers and tablet devices. Though you may see more overall revenue on mobile devices, it’s important not to neglect your other device users.
Key takeaways:
- Plan your Black Friday offers well in advance. The more time you have to plan, the bigger impact you’ll have on the day.
- Performance shows that most shoppers start buying early in the morning and continue well into the late evening.
- Most revenue comes from mobile devices, so it’s important to have a mobile-friendly website.
- Average order value is highest on desktop, so don’t neglect your other devices!
Oneclick Digital is the all-encompassing, results driven PPC agency specialising in search, display and social advertising. If you are looking for a team of PPC experts, dedicated to creating and managing campaigns that make the most of your advertising budget, then get in touch with us today; we’ll be delighted to help.