Deals, Deliveries, and Demand: Shopify's latest insights show strong shopper interest and spend this Black Friday/Cyber Monday

This year has seen a tremendous transformation in commerce globally, even more so as we head towards黑色Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM).The concentrated four-day period traditionally marked by deep discounts and promotions has now evolved into a broader holiday shopping season. To help merchants navigate this new phenomenon, we’re sharing insights from shoppers around the world.

As more consumers turned to online commerce this year, early trends indicate that the pandemic hasn’t significantly impacted shoppers' interest in BFCM. Two-thirds (67%) of U.S. consumers surveyed say they plan to shop during BFCM this year, with similar sentiment shared by shoppers in Canada (50%), France (67%), and Germany (61%), all of which are comparable to or higher-than-planned participation captured in advance of BFCM in 2019. In fact, compared to last year, shoppers' average planned spend is higher in the U.S.($686 USD), Canada ($481 CAD), UK (£376), France (€466), and Germany (€389), with trending product areas including apparel and accessories, electronics, toys, and health and beauty**.

In early September, more than half (55%)* of Shopify’s merchants surveyed indicated that they believed consumers would start their holiday shopping before BFCM this year, prompting brands to start preparing earlier than previous years. And consumers agree — one in five U.S. shoppers (20%) recently surveyed by Shopify said they have already started looking for BFCM deals, along with shoppers in Canada (19%), Germany (19%), and Italy (19%). In the U.K. (25%) and Australia (27%), one in four shoppers have started to search for BFCM promotions.

Beyond that, fewer and fewer shoppers are looking for deals exclusively in-store, with close to half (49%) of U.S. shoppers planning to shop online only during BFCM weekend, along with shoppers in the U.K. (62%), Germany (53%), Australia (53%) and Canada (52%). With more shopping happening online, we’re actively helping our merchants prepare for the busy holiday season as more consumers look online to support independent and direct-to-consumer brands. From sharing the latest commerce industry trends as they develop, to providing educational tools and tips to maximize their business impact, we’re helping our more than one million merchants thrive this holiday season.

This year’s extended BFCM season will also give businesses more time to establish deeper relationships and trust with their customers, prepare for the increase in online orders and fluctuating inventory, and manage expectations around longer-than-usual shipping times. Alternate fulfillment solutions like curbside pickup and local delivery have seen substantial uptick as offline retailers have pivoted online.

Shopify的数据显示,这些照片kup and delivery options leave shoppers satisfied, they also have significant business impact. On average, from May to August 2020, online shoppers spent 23% more when choosing local pickup or delivery, and had a 25% higher cart size. Looking at January to September 2020, on average, online shoppers that chose local pickup or delivery during checkout had a 13% and 19% higher conversion rate, respectively, than shoppers who selected shipping***.

Finally, be sure to keep an eye out for Shopify’s annual BFCM Live Globe launching on Black Friday (November 27), which will debut new features this year to provide a dynamic, real-time view of commerce from Shopify’s independent global business owners throughout the weekend.

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*Data is based on research conducted by Shopify’s Market Insights team. Research data was collected via an online survey among n=1,750 English-speaking Shopify merchants between August 27 and September 4, 2020.

** Insights are representative of respondents that plan to make a purchase this Black Friday / Cyber Monday, unless otherwise noted. ^Online survey conducted among representative samples of consumers living in USA (n=503), Canada (n=504), UK (n=531), France (n=513), Germany (n=513), Italy (n=533), Australia (n=475) between October 1 - 8, 2020.

***Data is based on insights from Shopify’s Retail Data Team. Data was collected as of September 2020 from all merchants in all geographies using Shopify online and in store since January 1, 2020 and was limited to all orders after January 1, 2020.