Black Friday is the biggest shopping event globally as it starts at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Throughout the past decades, it has brought millions of customers to shopping malls and physical stores. Still, there is a noticeable increase in online shopping, with people comfortably migrating to the online sphere.
2020’s situation with the global pandemic and active lockdowns has brought Black Friday e-commerce to its peak. To accommodate the increasing demand for better saving opportunities, traditional publishers and top retailers moved their discounts and offered online, extending the Black Friday advertisements to “Black Week” and even “Black November.”
However, the current situation calls for more advanced holiday shopping solutions, making Global Savings Group an essential partner for advertisers, publishers, and consumers alike. As an international commerce content platform, it provides profound expertise in creating, curating, and distributing the best savings – in the form of coupon codes, cashback, rewards, and deals. Black Friday is, therefore, a prime-time for GSG activity, especially with shifting consumer behavior. Undoubtedly, the year 2020 is the one for the books, helping shoppers save a total of more than $30 million only last week through deals on GSG’s platforms and earning ~$1.4 million in Cashback and Rewards.
Photo by Xiaolong Wong on Unsplash
GSG Black Friday Week in Numbers
With data from over 20 countries, GSG activities generated a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of over €110 million across the markets with an average basket size of €94.81. A team of over 300 people worldwide on various GSG portals evaluated around 40,000 offers and curated more than 25,000 vouchers and deals for consumers on Thursday and Black Friday. Furthermore Cashback was available for >3,500 online merchants in France, Germany and Spain with over 700 negotiations for higher rates for GSG’s shoppers. Throughout the “Black Week,” it has facilitated over 1.1 million transactions. During the busiest days, the team managed to create nine vouchers per minute and scout one offer every 4 seconds, breaking a new record for the company.
GSG once again succeeded in facilitating a multitude of transactions online. This year’s general trend of shoppers avoiding physical stores only highlights the necessity of mobile-friendly solutions for offers and deals to help them make purchases quicker. As a result, already in 2019, people shopped equally on mobile and desktop devices across all considered geographies, while this year, mobile shopping overtook desktop by 6%.
Multi-Category is usually the most significant vertical, with retailers such as Amazon on top due to the convenience they offer to shoppers seeking to browse and buy across various product types. However, “technology” comes right after, as one of the most significant categories during Black Friday shopping in all GSG markets. Consumers know that it offers the best deals as they look for the most valuable devices’ lowest prices. In 2020 this is one of the categories that has seen the highest rise in demand so far (measured by Gross Merchandising Value sold), growing by a whopping 166.98% compared to the last year.
There are some intriguing changes in Black Friday results this year, especially as travel restrictions made shoppers switch their focus to other industries. Travel has always been a staple of Black Friday shopping. However, with the pandemic-related industry decline, 2020 shows the lowest numbers that GSG has accounted for in years. There has been a significant drop with a -70.83% GMV change, which is particularly noticeable as in 2019, shoppers spent more on Travel than Home and Gardening, and in 2020 this category overtook Travel significantly.
Women’s fashion, Sports and Outdoors are also a significant part of Black Friday shopping. The latter went through a sharper increase of 78.84% GMV change in retail sales than a similar period in 2019 due to the same reasons Home and Gardening experienced significant growth this year. Overall, the pandemic had a very noticeable effect on consumer demand and preferences and brought the Black Friday shoppers online to look for discounts and deals.
Black Friday around the globe
Black Friday in the UK
Shoppers chose to spend less on each purchase in the United Kingdom, as demonstrated by a decrease in the average order value in 2020’s Black Friday, going from €85.90 last year to €81.77.
“Multi-Category” remains the largest vertical, followed by Women’s Fashion, even if the latter saw a 10.7% decrease in the amount of GMV generated for brands, unlike Sports & Outdoors that landed in third place with a 56,79% growth this year versus last year’s Black Friday.
Technology – a traditional Black Friday favorite – commands this year the 4th place in English shopper’s preferences, generating 10% of all GMV – a staggering increase of 71.54% from last year’s values. In contrast, Travel lost 70.58%, accounting 2020 for only 2.5% of shoppers’ purchase value. Automotive, Baby & Child, and Going Out verticals were among some of the other losers. This trend highlights the direct effect of the global pandemic and subsequent change in consumer behavior.
The British revealed their preference for shopping on mobile devices, which only grew further in 2020, with 62.28% of people looking for discounts and offered using mobile vs. 59.18% in 2019. However, the average basket size is still higher for desktop users spending on average €97.02 instead of €72.48 for mobile ones.
Black Friday in Germany
Going deeper into country-specific data, in 2020, the average order value in Germany decreased to €119.76 from €127.70 in 2019. “Multi-category” remains the biggest vertical in the market, while technology and women’s clothing take the most considerable part of it. As a result, they comprise 26.2% and 13.3% of GMV in comparison to last year’s 9.2% and 13.8%.
The verticals that saw the largest decreases in the amount of GMV generated were Travel and Going Out with -67.50% and -76.98%, respectively. At the same time, German consumers ended up shopping proportionally more in 2020 for Home & Garden goods, Sports & Outdoors, Health & Beauty (with GMV increasing 172.26%, 134.49%, 145.12% respectively to the Black Friday 2019). This trend highlights the direct effect of the global pandemic and subsequent change in consumer behavior.
It is interesting to observe that most German shoppers increasingly prefer to shop using their mobile devices rather than desktops. Thus, 51.66% of people looked for discounts and offered using mobile in 2019, and 2020 reveals a slight increase to 55.85%. However, at the same time average basket size is still higher for desktop users spending on average €134.08 as opposed to €108.47 for mobile ones.
Photo by Arturo Rey on Unsplash
Black Friday in the US
Also, in the United States, in 2020, the average order value saw a decrease, going from €128.17 in 2019 to €116.59. This year, Women’s Fashion takes first place as the most coveted vertical when it comes to Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) sales, growing 58.46% versus last year’s Black Friday.
Last year’s favorite – Home & Garden – is now second place, with 20% of the GMV generated for brands, and also showing a substantial 28.76% growth versus last year’s performance.
Much like across other geographies, American shoppers also saw an increase in interest in the Sports & Outdoors category, making this the vertical with the most robust growth – selling in 2020’s Black Friday 211.92% more than in 2019.
Some of the biggest losers are the Going Out and Travel verticals, similar to other countries, due to the pandemic effect, which also drove consumers to focus on indoor or local activities. Business & Office also showed triple-digit growth, as well as Health & Beauty. Technology continues to be a favorite for Black Friday deal seekers, growing 60% from last year and figuring as the 4th topic vertical for GMV generated for retailers in 2020.
Unlike some of the European countries we looked at, most American shoppers prefer to secure their Black Friday savings on their desktop – a tendency that only strengthened this year. In 2020, 61,49% of people shopped on desktop, 5.62% more than last year. Shoppers also spend around 20.45% more while using a desktop device, with the average basket in 2020 €124.83, versus €103.64 on mobile devices.
Black Friday in France
It is important to note that Black Friday 2020 in France will only occur on the 4th of December. Still, there is some data available concerning the traditional Black Friday date, and in 2020 the average order value in France decreased to €69.49 from €78.99 in 2019.
Even though “Multi-category” was the biggest vertical in the 2019 market, in 2020, Women’s clothing and Sports & Outdoors placed themselves on top of the list. They comprise 23% and 18% of GMV in comparison to last year’s 19.4% and 7.9%. In France, the Travel vertical also experienced the most dramatic drop of -74.26% due to COVID-related measures and restrictions.
French shoppers also gradually switch to shopping on their mobile devices rather than desktops. If last year 37.26% of people looked for discounts and offers using mobile, 2020 reveals a slight increase to 44.45%. Consumers spent more using the desktop, accounting for an average basket size of €76.61 instead of €60.76 for mobile ones.
Black Friday in Spain
The shoppers slightly increased their spendings in Spain, with the average basket size rising to €83.45 from €77.16 in 2019. Technology and Sports & Outdoors are the leaders of Black Friday spendings in the Spanish market; they comprise 30.7% and 19.0% of GMV in comparison to last year’s 17.2% and 16.6%. Like other countries, with people spending more time at home, the trend to shop more for sports equipment is growing stronger. Unsurprisingly, Travel became the least popular vertical with GMV -36.94%.
Simultaneously, Spanish consumers ended up shopping proportionally more in 2020 for Women’s fashion and Health & Beauty (with GMV increasing 72.25% and 53.32% respectively to the Black Friday 2019).
Even though Spanish people are less prone to shop using their mobile devices than their counterparts from other countries, mobile is still experiencing slow growth. 41.04% of people looked for discounts and offered using mobile in 2019, and 2020 reveals a slight increase to 43.37%. And in correlation with this trend, an average basket size is still higher for desktop users spending on average €94.29 instead of €70.28 for mobile ones.
Black Friday in Australia
Unlike other countries we looked into, Australia showed the highest growth in the average basket of shoppers between 2019 and 2020 – they went from spending on average €56.87 to spending €90.39.
“Multi-category” remains the biggest vertical in the market, followed by Women’s Fashion and Food & Drink, much like in 2019, having the latter two shown growth of 93.32% and 56.85% in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) sales, respectively.
Sports & Outdoors grew over 200% this year, taking fourth place from the Travel vertical. Like in other countries, struggling with the pandemic, but on a much smaller scale – with a reduction of only 15.93% versus sales value of last year. For example, the other geographies saw decreases in travel sales values of over 50%.
Indeed Australia shoppers only have an increased preference towards Technology, Health & Beauty, and Business/Office. Like with the rest of the other geographies – these verticals grew in value 72.77%, 72.05%, and 70.26%, respectively versus last year Black Friday – while also preferring to shop more for Utilities and Going Out, verticals that saw decreased demand in other countries.
Like the US, Australian shoppers prefer shopping on a desktop. The number of mobile transactions grew by 16.48% from 2019 to 44.98% in 2020. Average baskets are larger on desktop though – €100.35 on average, versus €81.01 on mobile.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the global pandemic in 2020 had the most profound impact on how people shopped on Black Friday. The most noticeable trends are an increased preference for online shopping instead of visiting physical stores and seeking out discounts and offers on their mobile devices more than last year.
Overall, across all presented countries, there are similar trends in the way consumers allocated their shopping preferences. In particular, the Travel and Going Out verticals have suffered the most, whereas Technology and Women’s Fashion only grew stronger, placing themselves on top of the list. Interestingly, as people spend more time at home, such verticals as Sports & Outdoors, Home & Garden, Health & Beauty only grew in popularity, overtaking traditional list leaders.
Global Savings Group took a close look at the current trends to deliver the most efficient results and present advertisers, publishers, and customers with a continuously improving shopping experience.
