Black Friday Shopping Stats Every Product Marketer Must See [Infographic]

Black Friday is still one of the most popular shopping days of the year with “5 billion dollars spent in 2017,” according to MarTech.  

I’m sure you’re thinking okay yeah but why should I care?

Well, the most interesting thing about last year’s Black Friday is that 2.36 billion was spent exclusively online.

That means, just like everything else, Black Friday is moving towards an eCommerce focus. In fact, MarTech's research shows that only 16% of shoppers shopped exclusively in stores.

Kinda takes away from the fun of Cyber Monday, right?

Nope. Cyber Monday sales were 6.59 billion last year. Again, proving the point that EVERYTHING is going online.

Luckily, this is great for us in the online/eCommerce world and gives us some valuable lessons that we can take from these Black Friday:

Keep a Strong Online Focus

If you sell physical products and considered moving away from online and testing out some more outbound strategies, that’s 100% fine -- but don’t pull fully away from online. Keep this a top priority.  

According to MarTech, 29% of people shopped mostly in stores and a little online, 26% shopped equally in stores and online, and 20% were mostly online and a little in stores. In other words, even if people are shopping in-store, they’re likely looking online as well.

80% of shoppers actually compared prices online before going to the stores, so you need to have a presence!

Make sure you have the right information online that allows the user to self-educated before reaching out to you in person.

There’s Power Behind the Ritual

Did you know that more shoppers are actually bought into “the ritual” of Black Friday than shopping itself? It’s a whole event!

Families finish up their Thanksgiving meals and then head out to wait in lines at their favorite stores. It’s becoming more of a part of the Thanksgiving ritual and a fun way to connect with your friends and family than it is about scoring that new flat screen TV.

Online or in-person, you should ask yourself how can I create a similar experience for my customers?

Do you host a fun, recurring event? Or could you even make webinars something business looking forward to tuning into?

Figure out what makes sense for your customers and build a plan around making this day a “ritual” for them.

Start a Multi-Day Promotion Strategy

We mentioned Cyber Monday earlier and how it corresponds to Black Friday; They go together like peanut butter and jelly or Danny and Sandy.

Do you have an offer that can extend past Black Friday?

One thing you can take and use for yourself is a drip email campaign.

Consider sending g emails with new deals up to the biggest deal on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Build excitement by offering them something new and more enticing every day before finally offering them up the biggest and most exciting thing at the end of the promotion.

Get Back in the Red!

Use these lessons from Black Friday to inspire your marketing plan to drive sales during relatively slow months like the retail industry does with their Black Friday strategy and check out the Martech Infographic for more Black Friday statistics and ideas!