Black Friday 2024: Lessons retailers can take into peak season 2025
This article is provided by BRC Associate Member, Ecommpay.
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As the golden quarter draws near, online retailers are already plotting their Black Friday and Christmas strategies and with good reason. The 2024 season defied expectations, delivering strong conversion, higher average basket values, and YoY growth for several key categories. But it wasn’t without its surprises.
In partnership with IMRG, we at Ecommpay dug deep into retail performance across hundreds of merchants and billions in online spend. Our collaborative report, Black Friday and Christmas Review 2024, is packed with insights retailers can act on now to fine-tune their Q4 plans.
Here are a few takeaways from the report, and what they mean for your 2025 strategy.
A strong peak, despite softer traffic
Retail traffic in November 2024 was down by 4.3% YoY, yet revenue rose by 0.9% – the third consecutive month of online growth. This signals a more intentional consumer: fewer browsers, more buyers.
Conversion rate improvements helped drive this outcome. On average, conversion hit 4.6% during Black Friday week (up from 4.2% in 2023), with standout days like Cyber Monday reaching 5.3%. Retailers who optimised the customer journey, especially at the product and checkout stages, were more likely to convert high-intent visitors.
Takeaway: Lower traffic doesn’t have to mean lower revenue. Focus on on-site experience, offer clarity, and conversion-friendly payment options.
Cyber Monday gets smarter, not louder
Cyber Monday in 2024 had the best overall performance across both traffic and conversion, despite the lowest engagement times. This may reflect savvier, more purposeful shopping behaviour – many shoppers were primed and ready, checking out with minimal friction.
The average order value (AOV) on Cyber Monday reached £131.95, the highest seen in four years. With customers willing to buy more expensive items (especially in Health & Beauty, which saw +14.7% YoY revenue growth), timing and trust were crucial.
Takeaway: Use your Cyber Monday campaigns to drive urgency and guide confident purchasing. Ensure your checkout flows are fast, intuitive, and mobile-optimised.
Marketing mix matters – direct mail leads the charge
Interestingly, direct mail was the most effective revenue driver for Black Friday 2024, accounting for 26.3% of revenue – up from 15.8% the year before. Organic search and cross-network channels followed.
On the flip side, paid social and email saw slight declines in traffic generation. This shift suggests that traditional digital channels may be getting saturated or deprioritised by shoppers seeking higher-quality engagements.
Takeaway: Diversify your marketing mix and don’t overlook high-performing but under-utilised channels like direct mail or cross-network advertising. Attribution modelling is key here, especially when planning multi-touch campaigns.
Discounts work but only when paired with trust
Discount strategy continues to be pivotal. The most popular approach was “up to X% off” on selected products, used by 42% of retailers. And it’s not just messaging that matters: there’s a clear correlation between discount depth and checkout conversion.
Retailers offering 10% off saw around a 60% conversion rate at checkout, while those offering 80% off reached nearly 78%. Yet less than 1% of merchants used “price promise” messaging – a potential missed opportunity to reassure shoppers.
Takeaway: If you’re running deep discounts, reinforce them with confidence-building tactics, such as clear returns policies, price-match guarantees, and fraud-free payment experiences.
Conversion doesn’t stop at checkout
Reducing cart abandonment was a key success factor. Industry-wide, basket abandonment fell to 58.9% (down from 61.6% in 2023), and checkout abandonment edged down to 46.8%.
Still, bounce rates rose, especially from homepage visitors. With more shoppers entering from product pages or search, there’s a need for seamless landing experiences tailored to intent.
Takeaway: Think beyond the basket. Invest in faster checkouts, payment flexibility, and tools that nudge customers toward completion, like personalised reminders or embedded checkout flows.
Planning now? Start with the data
With Black Friday 2025 falling one week earlier in the calendar, comparisons to 2024 will be tricky, but no less valuable. From category-specific performance (Health & Beauty and Sports & Outdoors led the charge) to campaign timing insights (63% of retailers extended their promotions), the Black Friday and Christmas Review 2024 gives you the full picture.
