Black Friday 2021 stats you will not discover anyplace else

One thing is certain: Christmas 2021 will develop differently than any other. Ecommerce grew a staggering 32.5% in 2020, largely due to the impact of the pandemic. Experts predict it will grow another 11.3% in 2021, even as companies face challenges like labor shortages and delivery delays. Almost half of consumers If the choice is yours, still prefer to shop in person and challenge companies to combine online and offline experiences over the 2021 holiday season to ensure a seamless and “wow” customer experience.

So how did it start this Christmas season? We collected data from our ActiveCampaign platform to show how our customers approached this year’s Black Friday week. The data is based on our 150,000 global customer base and the usage of our platform as well as our integration with world class eCommerce tools like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and Square. Analyzing this data shows us the power of integrations in creating sustainable programs that generate real revenue.

Let’s take a closer look at the key takeaways we saw during Black Friday week of 2021.

Finding # 1: Communication for e-commerce was more effective compared to the previous year

Ecommerce is here to stay. This provides a great opportunity for both ecommerce and retail businesses to learn and build on their digital strategy, even if they’re just starting out. First, take 20 minutes a week to familiarize yourself with the tools, functions, integrations and automations of ActiveCampaign. Brands that implement these practices in their business will experience optimal growth.

We know this communication works because ActiveCampaign customers had more conversions in 2021 than they did in 2020. Our customers saw total orders increased by 15% year over year and total orders increased by 91% from 2019 to 2021. An increase in the Total number of orders shows us that online shopping is more frequent, which effectively communicates the value of e-commerce.

According to our abandoned shopping cart tool, customers left $ 76.4 million in sales in their carts in 2021. ActiveCampaign customers recovered $ 10.4 million from those abandoned carts. That’s 14% of the potential lost sales that were saved! That’s double the abandoned cart revenue reclaimed in 2021 compared to 2020, up from just $ 1.2 million in 2019.

How did you do that? Through the establishment Abandoned cart emails. If the shopping cart automation is canceled, an email is triggered when a customer leaves something in their shopping cart in your e-commerce shop. This customer will (automatically!) Receive an email from you reminding them of their shopping cart. When they complete the purchase, the earnings recovered will be the money recovered from using the abandoned cart automation.

ActiveCampaign customers left less on the table in 2021 than in previous years and proved the effectiveness of their communication with the ActiveCampaign platform. As the e-commerce brands continue to expand in 2022, so will the communication options for your company.

“Creating one-to-one experiences with customers is critical to e-commerce, especially now during the busy holiday season when they are faced with endless ways to meet their shopping needs,” said Jason VandeBoom, Founder and CEO by ActiveCampaign. “We strive to help our customers communicate more effectively with their own customers. For this reason, we have developed automations such as leaving the shopping cart, integration with first-class tools and curated educational content taking your individual needs into account. “

Takeaway # 2: Buyers will spend more in 2021

While we are still affected by these unprecedented times, the pandemic has transformed our economy and opened up more opportunities for people to shop digitally. We found that consumers are spending more money on ActiveCampaign customers this year than in the previous two years, suggesting additional opportunities for ecommerce brands to grow their sales through 1: 1 experiences.

Average revenue per order for customers this year was $ 120, down from $ 116 in 2020 and $ 103 in 2019. This is a staggering 17% increase from 2019 to 2021 and 4% from 2020. The data shows us that, despite our current economic climate, buyers are willing to spend more money this year than ever before.

ActiveCampaign customers see more value using our ecommerce integrations, including Shopify, Woocommerce, Bigcommerce, and Square. The power of these integrations enables companies to get more customers, target buyers again, and sell more. People are making more purchases online with major integrations, proving that e-commerce is not a trend, it is a thing of the past. Indeed our customer is LGR saw ecommerce sales increase 143% from using ActiveCampaign and our integrations.

“As the holiday season approaches, we are as prepared as possible to serve our customers in the best possible way, and ActiveCampaign is an integral part of that,” said David Pritchard, manager at Blossom Co. “With the integration with our store platform, marketing and resources for better customer loyalty, we feel we have everything under control to ensure that this holiday season is a successful one for our business.”

Takeaway # 3: Black Friday is still hot!

The days leading up to Black Friday are expected to be filled with tons of communication, sales, and shopping, but our customer data proves Friday is still the biggest day for shopping.

For our ActiveCampaign customers on Black Friday this year, we noticed a greater volume of e-mails, orders and sales effectiveness of messages in the case of abandoned carts than ever before.

Brands increased their daily email sendings through Friday, with over 2.4 billion emails sent this week. But on Friday the largest volume of emails was sent at 486 million. Friday alone represented the majority of emails for the entire week leading up to Black Friday, which underscores the importance of the day itself. The number of emails sent by brands was constant compared to last year.

Customers also placed the most orders on Friday. More than 290,000 orders in a single day prove that Black Friday has not lost its glory with shoppers. Friday was also the day when abandoned carts were most effective in terms of sales. ActiveCampaign customers were able to get 16% of their abandoned shopping cart revenue back on Friday. That’s an increase of just 7% in 2020 and 4% in 2019. Overall, ActiveCampaign customers are more likely to return their online purchases on Black Friday, which is a great opportunity for companies to take advantage of automations and integrations.

Takeaway # 4: Continue the swing through the weekend for the Small Business Saturday

While Black Friday is still the biggest day of the week for ecommerce, there is a great opportunity for ecommerce brands to continue the momentum over the weekend. With customers still shopping, companies should present all offers on the Small Business Saturday.

From Friday through Saturday, there was a sharp (-85%) drop in email sendings day-to-day, with brands sending just 262,000 emails on Saturday. This suggests brands aren’t sending as much communication to customers on Saturday, which could limit their vacation success this year.

Brands have the opportunity to generate additional revenue on Saturday by increasing the number of communications and improving efficiency for all Saturday shoppers.

Don’t stop with Black Friday. Keep your momentum going this holiday season and beyond with the # 1 Customer Experience Automation platform. Sign up for a. at Free trial today (no credit card required)!