- Web brands warned against Boxing Day dive after Black Friday online shopping boom.
- Cyber Monday dissolves as week-long online promotions prosper.
Performance marketing specialist, Webgains, has revealed an incredible 146.65 percent conversion rate increase on Black Friday online sales this year, with web shoppers snapping up online promotions faster than ever before – in vast contrast to Boxing Day’s 2.24 percent drop in conversion from 2014 to 2015.
This year Black Friday online sales increased by 28.13 percent compared to the same day last year as brands stimulated more demand during the adopted US shopping event, investing in strategic affiliate marketing solutions.
This is according to Ecommerce experts Webgains, who analysed data from over 2,000 big name clients, including Nike, Feelunique, Mothercare, Samsung, Ann Summers, Lovehoney and Cotsworld Outdoor.
However, Webgains warns that complacency from some brands could see a dip in Boxing Day sales – an increasingly important online trading day, thanks to the rise of Black Friday.
Richard Dennys, CEO of Webgains said: “UK shoppers bought into Black Friday promotions more than ever this year, but brands must do all they can do ensure this isn’t at the expense of a profitable Christmas and Boxing Day period.
“Whilst the high street has been buoyed by overseas shoppers capitalising on the devalued pound, online brands must up their Boxing Day efforts by strategically placing promotions across the most effective media.”
RIP ‘Cyber Monday’
Black Friday online sales for Webgains clients continued to outpace ‘Cyber Monday’, generating over £3 million in sales and accounting for 40 percent of the weekend sales. Although Cyber Monday recorded a narrow increase of 6 percent, Black Friday sales for Webgains clients increased by almost 20 percent.
The IMRG estimated a total £1.23bn was spent online on Black Friday in the UK this year, 12.2 percent higher than last year, and the British Retail Consortium tracked a record online penetration this year as in-store sales showed a decline. More than 1 in 4 pounds were spent online during this period.
“Cyber Monday has suffered the Black Friday death as the busy shopping period has been spread across an entire thrift week of incentives and price reductions. Changing sales patterns pose new challenges for retailers, but potentially gives shoppers a better chance of getting great deals as discounting periods run for longer.” Dennys added.
‘Thrift Week’ predicted to trigger Boxing Day sales slump
This year Black Friday sales were spread across the entire ‘Thrift Week’, of 25 November-2 December. In this time, Webgains helped clients generate an astonishing £11.5m in online sales, an increase of 52 percent from last year. This is almost triple the total value of those generated in the week leading up to and including Christmas in 2015, when Webgains clients generated over £3m of online sales.
Although Boxing Day sales increased by 30.50 percent last year from 2014, and are expected to continue to increase this year, Webgains warns Boxing Day sales may struggle to compete with Black Friday.
Dennys continued: “Brands can no longer be complacent with the same tried and tested Christmas ecommerce strategies used in previous years, or rest on their laurels following a successful Black Friday. With the right strategies in place, combining promotions and strategic advertising, brands can easily attract more than their fair share of seasonal sales.”
For more information, visit www.webgains.com.
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About Webgains
Founded in 2005, Webgains is an international, result-driven performance marketing company headquartered in the UK. Offering a pay-by-performance service, Webgains focuses on driving sales right off the page, harnessing voucher and cashback sites, price comparison and shopping sites, search, retargeting, remarketing, call tracking, content publishing, blogging, tweeting, email marketing and more.
Webgains operates in 14 markets internationally and currently represents affiliate marketing programmes for over 2,000 brands including Nike, Mothercare, Samsung, Ann Summers, LoveHoney, Snow&Rock and Cotsworld Outdoor, promoting offers and deals across over 250,000 publishers. Webgains is pioneering Powerfeed, the world’s most powerful digital assistant in the affiliate marketplace today.
For more information go to www.webgains.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, or follow @WebgainsUK.
