Black Friday and the holiday shopping season that follows is a pivotal time for retailers. More than just a shopping frenzy, Black Friday is a litmus test for the health of your brand, the effectiveness of your strategy, and the wider economic mood. Above all, it’s a bellwether for what the next year might hold for your business. 

To help benchmark your performance this year and inform your planning for 2025, our in-house retail experts have unpacked the essential data, trends, and insights you need to know from Cyber Week 2024 (Monday 25th - Sunday 1st).

The Headlines

Revenue was up 7% YoY, largely driven by e-commerce growth

After a lackluster Black Friday in 2023, this year saw encouraging growth for the retail sector. 

With shoppers feeling more cheerful than in 2023 thanks to lower inflation and interest rates, our data, which uniquely covers retail brands, shows that total revenue across Cyber Week rose 7% YoY. Overall order growth was up by 4%, a modest but still positive sign of improved consumer confidence and willingness to spend.  

Interestingly, some of that increase may have come at the expense of in-store shopping, which fell 8% reversing the trend of increased traffic following the worst year of the pandemic.

Spending patterns held steady, but early deals gained momentum

Black Friday itself was, unsurprisingly, the star of the show. Mirroring last year, across our customer base we saw engagement over Cyber Week (Monday 25th - Sunday 1st) peak on Black Friday. It was also the day which saw the highest spending, accounting for 22.2% of total Cyber Week revenue. 

However, spending was markedly higher and more stable this year between Monday and Wednesday, suggesting that consumers are more open to shopping for early deals.

Vertical-by-Vertical Breakdown

Revenue Growth

It was great to see that the majority of verticals from across our customer base grew their revenue this year, making significant gains despite the heightened competition. Consumer Electronics and Technology, Childrenswear, and Luxury Fashion and Accessories saw the biggest boosts, up 59.8%,41.3%, and 37.2% YoY respectively. 

The increase in Luxury Fashion revenue is notable as the vertical is not normally associated with the discounting of Black Friday. This result could suggest that strategic participation in Black Friday campaigns, coupled with a focus on exclusivity, can attract both new and loyal customers in the luxury segment during this key retail period.

Revenue growth remained steady in a number of verticals such as Furniture, Homeware, and Accessories and Marketplaces and Department Stores, indicating consistent demand for these categories. However, slight declines can be seen in Sports and Activewear, and Health and Wellness, which may point to a cooling in the wellness trend after a period of rapid growth. 

Order Growth

It was also very encouraging to see the number of orders during Cyber Week increase  across the vast majority of verticals. We saw the biggest spike in Black Friday juggernaut - Consumer Electronics and Technology - which was up a huge 88.7%. Childrenswear also enjoyed a successful season, up 37.6%, as well as Health and Wellness, which was up 24.0%. 

Interestingly, the majority (56.4%) of orders this year were made by returning customers, clearly indicating that an investment in understanding and nurturing your most loyal shoppers pays off. 

AOV

Average Order Value (AOV) also had a strong showing this year, again rising in the vast majority of verticals across our customer base. Here, we saw the largest increases in Beauty and Cosmetics, which was up 18.9%, Hobbies and Entertainment, which was up 16.0%, and Jewellery, which rose 13.2%. 

Tracking the overall performance of Beauty and Cosmetics in 2024, we can see that though revenue and order growth were down, the vertical also saw the greatest boost in AOV. This could suggest that big spenders in this category came out in force, whereas more casual shoppers went elsewhere or shopped less overall. 

The Trends

Black Friday has become Black November

Gone are the days of Black Friday being a one-weekend shopping event. Over the last 5 years, we’ve seen a huge acceleration in the number of brands kicking their sales events off earlier. 

According to data gathered from our customer base, email send volumes in the 8 weeks leading up to Black Friday 2024 were up by 9% on the same period in 2023, indicating a clear push from retailers to conquer as much inbox real estate as possible. 

Interestingly, the largest increase came 7 weeks before Black Friday, where email sends were 17% higher than 2023, suggesting that more retailers than ever are kicking off their Black Friday preparations well in advance of the big day. 

During Cyber Week itself, send volumes were unsurprisingly at their highest on Friday, clocking up 10% more emails on that day than in 2023.

Going forward, this means that retailers will have to work harder to engage customers in an exponentially more competitive market. This has placed even greater importance on understanding your audience. 

Whilst some will be drawn in by FOMO-inducing tactics like  VIP early-access sales and passcode-locked sites, which help maintain engagement throughout the period, others will be fatigued by longer Black Friday promotions, and respond better to shorter campaigns. Identifying what resonates best with your audience through a strong foundation of customer data will be key to driving YoY success.

AI-driven personalization was the differentiator

With Black Friday campaigns stretching weeks, not days, sky-high inbox competition, and buyers that are savvier than ever, AI-driven personalization and segmentation emerged this year as a crucial point of differentiation for high-performing retail businesses. 

Our research shows that increasing send volume is no longer enough to stand out in the crowded inboxes of today’s consumer – particularly in the most competitive quarter of the year. To cut through the noise, the winners of Black Friday 2024 embraced next-generation personalization strategies powered by AI, leveraging data and machine learning to deliver messaging that truly resonated. 

For example, this year we saw our clients using predictive affinity algorithms to fine-tune product recommendations, imagery, and content based on browsing and purchase behavior, or implementing predictive frequency modelling to send a message when a customer is most likely to convert. 

In a hyper-competitive landscape where discount fatigue has made consumers increasingly harder to convert, these tactics have evolved beyond nice-to-haves into essentials, and will remain a top priority for brands looking to have an even better 2025. 

Savvy retailers prioritized multichannel campaigns

Email may be a Black Friday mainstay, but some of the strongest campaigns we saw across our customer base this year were multichannel ones.

Email remained a powerhouse during Black Friday 2024, driving an impressive 16.3% of total revenue over Cyber Week according to our data. This was a slight decrease on last year’s figure of 18.7%. Engagement metrics were largely the same this year and last, with human open rate rising marginally from 5.9% to 6.1%, and CTR down slightly from 1.1% to 1%. 

However, given how intense the competition for customer attention is at peak, the savviest retailers focused on diversifying beyond email and meeting their audience where they are - from SMS to push notifications to paid social and beyond. 

2024 was a particularly strong year for SMS, driven in part by the huge popularity of mobile shopping, with mobile devices accounting for 55% of online sales.

Many of our clients made smart use of the channel, with its higher click and conversion rates, for driving a quick response; from dropping daily deals (like DUSK.COM), to announcing limited time offers (like Crew Clothing Company).

But ultimately, SMS is at its most powerful when integrated as part of a joined-up cross-channel approach, and based on rich customer data. When you make that a priority, you can truly personalize and tailor every message.

Top strategies balanced acquisition and retention

Though customer acquisition is undoubtedly a priority for retailers at Black Friday, 2024 highlighted the importance of balancing it with retention to build a successful peak season strategy. 

This year, our data shows that 56.4% of orders made over Cyber Week were repeat purchases, highlighting a clear trend: consumers are spending with brands they already know and trust, meaning retailers that had invested in cultivating direct relationships with their customers saw significant gains. 

This places ever greater importance on a strong foundation of customer data, allowing retailers to both identify and nurture their loyal customers with compelling, personalized messages. 

Interestingly, however, our data found that the average order value (AOV) of a new customer is slightly higher (6.5%) than that of a returning one, bucking the usual trend of returning customers spending more.  

Want best practice strategies from our experts on how to turn your holiday shoppers into long-term brand loyalists? Check out our Post Black-Friday Checklist for 2024.

Learnings for 2025

Black Friday 2024 saw retailers that balanced early customer activation  with strong retention efforts, leveraged AI-driven personalization, and nurtured long-term relationships emerged as clear winners. As we look ahead to 2025, the key takeaway is clear: success lies in creating value-driven, personalized experiences that resonate beyond the holiday rush.

–

Ometria is a Customer Data and Experience Platform exclusively for retailers, which means that, unlike other CDP/CDMP/ESP tech providers we are uniquely positioned to understand the retail challenges, use cases, and opportunities of retail events like BFCM. If you want your 2025 Black Friday to be even bigger and better, why not speak to one of our team to understand how the retail experience and expertise of Ometria’s technology and team can help you to hit your goals. Get in touch here.