UK shoppers keener on Black Friday than those in US

Distil.ai, a business intelligence platform for ecommerce businesses, has analysed Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) data for the UK and US markets, shedding light on customer shopping habits.

The data, drawn from a sample of over 40,000 online orders, offers insights into online shopping behaviors during the BFCM weekend. In the UK, shoppers strategically held off purchases in the weeks prior, resulting in three times the revenue compared to the weekly average for the rest of the year. This trend mirrors 2022, indicating consistent uplifts in sales. In the US, while positive sales occurred during BFCM, shoppers held back slightly more than their UK counterparts, prompting questions about the effectiveness of the current Black Friday approach in the US ecommerce market.

Repeat customers constituted nearly half the revenue for UK stores and over half for US stores during the BFCM weekend. Contrary to common belief, Black Friday success isn't solely reliant on quick sales to new customers. The data also highlights the limited impact of retargeting customers who have already made Black Friday purchases with Cyber Monday deals. Comparing US and UK daily performance, US shoppers started slow and recovered with strong figures on Sunday and Cyber Monday, missing the Black Friday rush. UK shoppers, in contrast, exhibited the highest value baskets on Black Friday compared to other days.

Overall, the average BFCM weekend spend per shopper increased by up to 26 percent in the US audience. The data underscores the importance of customer behavior data, which should be considered the new gold for ecommerce businesses.

Distil.ai customers leverage this analysis to assess their performance against a larger cohort and identify growth opportunities. Gerry McNicol, CEO and Founder at Distil, said in a statement the value of customer stories revealed by the data can drive business growth. “Our Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend data is fascinating when you look at the big picture, but what excites me more is that we can see so many customer stories - the brand loyalists, the annual bargain hunters and the long lost contacts who forgot they were ever customers. I was amazed to see the difference in spend between the USA and UK audiences, and the timings over BFCM weekend when the highest value baskets checked out.”