OBS Report: Black Friday 2024
Chinese Platforms Become the Stars of Black Friday
- 61% of consumers state they will make additional purchases during Black Friday
- Spain is the European country where the highest percentage of platform visits result in a purchase
- Social media, influencers, and Google are the main sources of information for buyers
- An OBS report recommends that retailers increase their active presence on platforms and integrate AI to enhance customer experience
November 2024. OBS Business School, an institution of Planeta Formación y Universidades, has published the Black Friday 2024 report, led by Professor Claudio Aros. This report analyzes what happened in 2023 and presents predictions for this year’s event, now often referred to as "Black Friday Week."
Although Black Friday will officially be held on November 29 this year, many retailers are offering discounts from Monday, November 25, and some have been running promotions throughout the month. This year’s discounts are expected to be similar to those of 2023, averaging around 30% for home appliances, 38% for clothing, 34% for beauty and health products, and 24% for sportswear and footwear. Sales are expected to keep rising, as has been the trend in recent years: in 2023, Spain saw sales during this period that were 93% higher than the previous year (Germany’s sales increased by 203%). This year, 61% of consumers say they will make extra purchases during these days, with many of them shopping online.
Over 50% of the traffic for finding online deals comes from social media and Google, indicating that consumers are actively using digital platforms to stay informed about discounts and promotions. Retailers should take note and maximize their active presence on these platforms. They should also integrate AI to improve customer experience, as this technology plays an increasingly important role in shopping. Personalized recommendations and chatbots that help consumers find products are valued by customers as they allow for price comparisons and deal searching before making a purchase. We are witnessing the rise of the "strategic shopper," who buys less on impulse and more after detailed research. Inflation has likely driven this caution, with consumers prioritizing price over factors such as delivery times. This trend partly explains the growing popularity of Chinese shopping apps, which offer much more competitive prices. To compete with these platforms, Western retailers are improving the clarity and simplicity of the shopping experience and revising their return policies after the significant increase in returns during the same period in 2022.
Among the five largest European countries, Spain has the lowest rate of visits to shopping websites (34%), but also the highest conversion rate (52%, compared to Germany’s 42%), meaning that more visitors end up making a purchase. The report suggests this is a clear indicator of the success of marketing strategies being implemented in Spain during this period. Email campaigns are particularly noteworthy, with a marked increase (on Black Friday in 2023, the volume of emails reached 183.89 million) and SMS (the provider Attentive sent over 540 million text messages on the same day last year). Influencers have also been essential in driving sales.
Forecasts for This Year
2024 is shaping up to be a year of growth in sales, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday acting as key drivers. Global sales are expected to surpass $278 billion.
Many consumers will bring forward their holiday shopping to take advantage of the discounts. In 2023, 33% of the Spanish population took advantage of this period to shop, spending an average of €145 per person. The most popular products were electronics, clothing and accessories, appliances, and home décor items. Online sales focused mainly on fashion, IT products, and electronics. Other popular items included food and beverages, baby and pet products, and items related to home care, health, and beauty.
There is a clear trend toward more purchases being made via mobile devices. Nearly half of Western consumers browsing and shopping now do so on their mobile phones. Last year, 40.5 million mobile purchases were made worldwide during Black Friday, and this year, that figure is expected to reach $128.1 billion, representing a 12.8% year-over-year growth. Consumers increasingly prefer the convenience of shopping through an app on their mobile device rather than filtering products on a website, even if it has a mobile version. The most popular apps include Amazon, AliExpress, Cider, Shein, and TikTok, but the clear leader is TEMU, where 43% of Western consumers have shopped in the past six months. For the 2024 season, forecasts are clear: 63% of shoppers plan to use these apps. Salesforce predicts that Chinese shopping apps will capture $160 billion in global e-commerce outside China.
Content written by:
Carmen García-Trevijano
OBS Business School's Press Office