As the 2021 Cyber Season fast approaches, one of the first questions we asked ourselves at Wunderkind was, “How has Cyber Weekend changed over the last few years?” While there were many monumental shifts in 2020 that flipped this holiday season on its head, some of these shifts were well underway in the years preceding.
To no one’s surprise, last year was the biggest year on record for Cyber Weekend, spurred by store closures and increasing digital adoption that was accelerated by the pandemic. When it comes down to just “how” colossal this weekend was, the numbers speak for themselves. According to Adobe Analytics holiday annual report for 2020, shoppers spent $9 billion on Black Friday and nearly $11 billion on Cyber Monday, representing a 15% jump from the previous year. This jump was much greater than analysts were expecting before the pandemic took hold, as 2019 was already an extraordinary year.
One of the trends that was further accelerated last year was the transformation of Cyber Weekend from a two-day event into a weekend-long marathon. Whereas over 50% of the revenue occurred on Friday and Monday in 2018, we are now seeing more revenue evenly distributed across the entire weekend. In fact, over 64% of Wunderkind clients saw more revenue driven over Black Friday than Cyber Monday for the first time in Cyber Week history. This is a trend we expect to continue in the upcoming season.
Daily Cyber Week Revenue, 2018 – 2020
While total BFCM revenue is up, the proportional revenue driven over the weekend has decreased. This is largely due to the fact that many retailers started Cyber Week at the beginning of November, if not even earlier. Black Friday and Cyber Monday (and the weekend in between) on average made up 4.77% of 2020’s total digital revenue, down 9% from 2019’s average.
As COVID-19 accelerated eCommerce adoption, November was also less of a make or break month for many retailers. Even with total revenue up over the holiday weekend, the increase in adoption led to less proportional revenue driven during this historically massive month. We can take this as an indication that more shoppers have made eCommerce a normal part of their routine, rather than just a once-a-year blowout.
November % of Total Annual Revenue, 2018 – 2020
As we look forward to the upcoming 2021 season, analysts are predicting another record-breaking holiday. The year-over-year growth is expected to be less than the jump from 2019 to 2020, although store closures will likely play a role in how this figure holds up. Regardless, it will still be an important time for retailers to convert first-time shoppers and strengthen their relationships with existing customers.
To learn more about how you can optimize your owned channels and create a winning Cyber Weekend strategy, click here to watch a webinar produced by Wunderkind’s Product Marketing team. You’ll see actionable examples from leading brands and retailers that are capitalizing on these trends to ensure they meet or exceed last year’s record-breaking performance.