The majority of orders over ‘Black Fiveday’ occurred on mobile devices, according to new figures.
Analysis of orders across a range of clients from Salmon found that over the five-day period (Thursday, November 24 to Monday, November 28), 68 per cent of traffic and 51.2 per cent of orders were made on either a mobile or tablet.
On the Sunday (27) almost three quarters (73 per cent) of website visits originated from a mobile device.
Salmon predicted that the shopping period would be more spread out and figures from IMRG supported this, with 11 different Black Friday campaigns beginning before the week had started.
Salmon’s own data revealed that the majority of campaigns started on Thursday (24), which accounted for 19 per cent of Black Fiveday sales. One of the major peaks happened on Black Friday itself, with Salmon reporting that 35 per cent of overall sales took place between 9am-12pm.
It also found that Black Friday shoppers had more intent to buy, as there was an 86 per cent increase in the number of visitors adding items to their shopping cart over the Black Fiveday, compared with the previous week.
Conversion rates were double the normal weekly rate – up by 106 per cent – and were also up 10 per cent on the previous year.
Salmon also identified the rise of the ‘basket bandit’, with shoppers adding items to their shopping basket prior to the Black Friday week ready to click buy when items were discounted.
On the Thursday, there was a six per cent increase in cart abandonment compared with Wednesday, but from Friday onwards there was a steady decline in cart abandonment, which Salmon claimed indicated that shoppers had found the bargain they were after and were buying immediately.
Brexit may also have had an impact on shopping habits over the discount period, Salmon suggested, with customers purchasing before retailers could increase prices.
It also saw an increase in the number of international sales, which it suggested could have been impacted by Brexit and the depreciation of the pound.
“Over the ‘Black Fiveday’ period, there were increases in international traffic at peak hours across Europe, the US and as far as China,” said Salmon. “This had down-the-line implications for back-end processes that potentially hadn’t planned for strong order numbers entering the system at off-peak times. It also reinforces the need for global brands to have a robust international online capability.”
