Prior to the post-Thanksgiving spending kick-off, Black Friday was poised to overtake Cyber Monday as the dominant retail event in North America for the first time, with 31% of US internet users planning to shop on Black Friday versus 22% on Cyber Monday, according to eMarketer. With Cyber Monday slightly under-performing globally YoY against Black Friday, how does the US and Canada compare?
Across North America, 2018 was the first instance Black Friday network performance trumped Cyber Monday, with Black Friday revenue 6% greater. Cyber Monday continued to produce the most transactions for the day (+2%), however generated a lower AOV of $96, compared to $104 on Black Friday.
Assessing each shopping event independently, both days showed an increase in year-over-year performance across Awin and ShareASale. Black Friday in particular yielded substantial growth, with a 46% increase in number of transactions, 54% increase in revenue generated, 51% increase in publisher commissions and 6% increase in AOV. Cyber Monday saw less dramatic results, with a 41% increase in the number of transactions, 34% increase in revenue generated, 27% increase in publisher commissions and 5% decrease in AOV.
The growth of Black Friday and declining AOV on Cyber Monday could be attributed to a few trends we saw this peak shopping season. This year, retailers launched holiday promotions and promoted heavy discounting online on Black Friday itself, thus inspiring an ‘early’ purchase decision from consumers who in the past may have waited for Cyber Monday. Additionally, we saw a spike in activity on Thanksgiving Day, further indicating shoppers are becoming less likely to wait for Black Friday or Cyber Monday to make a purchase. By the time Cyber Monday arrived, consumers may have already completed their spending or simply needed to purchase items initially forgotten.
