In this article…
It’s hard to believe, but it’s almost time again for marketers to begin their holiday campaign preparations. Leading up to these preparations, it’s important to reflect on consumer trends from Black Friday 2023 and derive insights for the coming year to shape successful marketing strategies.
Spending trends we saw in 2023
In 2023, consumer holiday spending was forecasted to rise at the slowest pace in five years due to inflation and cost of living concerns. Forrester reported that consumers weren’t spending less, but they were spending slower and paying less for what they bought to stretch their dollar further.
Despite slower spending, data showed a 7.5% increase in e-commerce sales from 2022 to 2023, with a record $9.8 billion spent online and the most substantial growth of in-store traffic in recent years, up 4.6% from the previous year. Shopify even reported record 2023 Black Friday sales numbers offline and offline, reaching $4.1 billion, with significant spending across personal care, clothing, jewelry, shoes, and decor. Around 75% of these sales occurred on mobile and 25% on desktop.
When people shopped in 2023
We also saw notable shifts in how, when, and where people shopped on Black Friday. One significant trend noted in our 2023 Holiday spending report was the increasing preference for early holiday shopping, particularly online. Consumers quickly responded to early discounts and promotions, which caused a surge in spending during October. Cyber Week, encompassing Black Friday through Cyber Monday, also played a significant role, accounting for 8% of total consumer holiday spending.
2023 trends we expect to see in 2024
As you gear up for the holiday season, understanding Black Friday trends from 2023 will be vital, as Black Friday 2024 is expected to see a continuation of several key trends alongside emerging ones:
- Mobile shopping will continue its growth trajectory.
- Consumers will keep seeking early deals.
- Marketers will prepare promotions sooner than ever.
- Flexible payment arrangements like “buy now/pay later” (BNPL) will drive conversions amid continued inflation.
- Channel switching will become more common.
- Paid search will drive the most sales.
Let’s talk about what past trends and future predictions mean for your marketing strategy and how you can use them to inform your 2024 holiday campaigns.
Emerging consumer behaviors
Consumer behaviors and preferences have been changing and reshaping the Black Friday shopping landscape over the last few years. Looking ahead to Black Friday 2024, several trends from last year are likely to continue shaping the shopping experience.
Early shopping
The early holiday shopping trend will continue to become more pronounced. Many consumers now begin their end-of-year shopping well before Halloween, seeking to take advantage of early deals and discounts, enjoy more time to compare prices and products, avoid crowds, secure popular items early, and spread out their budget. In 2023, Gallup found that one in four holiday shoppers even starts as early as September. This means your business must begin planning sales and promotions earlier in the season and roll them out sooner.
The value of experiences
We’re seeing an interesting shift toward gifting experiences over physical items among consumers with more disposable income. In a 2023 survey, one in five respondents said they’d prefer to get an experience as a gift over an item. Those in higher income brackets are allocating more of their holiday budgets to experiences that create lasting memories, such as theme park passes, art classes, concert tickets, and so forth. This trend will require retailers to get creative, potentially:
- Hosting giftable in-store events
- Enhancing the in-store experience
- Using experiential marketing to make deeper consumer connections
- Partnering with other companies to provide bundled gift/experience packages
Preference for digital channels
Media consumption habits and preferred engagement channels are also undergoing significant changes. Consumers increasingly turn to digital channels like streaming TV and connected TV (CTV) for entertainment and information. CTV ad spending, in particular, is expected to grow by 20% in 2024 and by low double digits into 2027. This shift will influence how retailers reach and engage with consumers, and it underscores the importance of digital marketing strategies and personalized online experiences.
Mobile vs. desktop online spending
The preference for mobile over desktop for online transactions is growing; in 2023, mobile devices comprised 54% of online sales, with online purchases up 10.4% from 2022 on Black Friday. More and more, consumers are using mobile devices to research, browse, and buy online. Marketers need to optimize their mobile and website experience to make the shopping experience seamless across all devices.
Key products and categories
Research has shown that the most popular in-store purchases of Black Friday weekend in 2023 included clothing/accessories and electronics.
- 82% of shoppers bought clothing in-store to inspect colors, material, and fit
- 73% said they would buy electronics in store to compare quality
These categories were followed by:
- Health and beauty (49%)
- Household appliances (44%)
- Sports/leisure (32%)
Interestingly, the same categories were also the top sellers online during Cyber Week 2023, with 79% of buyers seeking clothing/accessories and 66% intending to purchase electronics. Amazon was one of the most popular shopping destinations for Cyber Week 2023, with over a billion items sold. Some of the top-selling items included the Amazon Fire TV Stick and Ring Video Doorbell. This indicates a consistent consumer preference across different shopping channels and suggests shoppers are comfortable buying a wide range of products online, even during traditional in-store shopping events.
Looking ahead, retailers can reasonably anticipate continued demand for clothing/accessories and electronics, both in-store and online.
Marketing strategies that worked
Last year was a year of growth, albeit slow growth, despite economic uncertainty. Here are some of the marketing strategies deployed that contributed to this growth.
Influencer collaborations
Data from a 2023 Black Friday report showed that seven of every 10 shoppers acknowledged an influencer’s role in their purchase decision. Partnering with influencers to promote Black Friday deals and hosting live streaming sessions with influencers showcasing products helped reach new audiences and build credibility. Influencers’ recommendations resonated strongly with their followers, which drove traffic and increased sales.
Cross-channel marketing campaigns
Black Friday gives marketers a unique opportunity to engage audiences across touchpoints. Using a mix of channels, such as social media, email, websites, SMS, in-store promotions, and print media, tends to create more impactful campaigns.
Last year proved to be diverse in terms of marketing channel mix. Marketers embraced a cross-channel approach to connect with their users during holiday sales, which was evident in the increased usage of channels like email, SMS/MMS, web push notifications, and emerging channels like Roku messages. Using multiple channels to promote Black Friday deals increased visibility and reached a wider audience. This comprehensive approach ensured marketing messages reached customers wherever they were.
To maximize sales during the Cyber Five holiday season, activate Experian audiences as part of your omnichannel campaign. Our offerings include meticulously curated behavioral segments based on discount indicators such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Coupons/Sales. These segments help you target shoppers who are ready to take advantage of your promotions and are primed for early conversion. Our marketing data was ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset, which means you can power smarter marketing initiatives, like insights, targeting, and measurement, using the highest-rated data.
App-only deals
In 2023, mobile app sales increased by 2% from 2022, generating a 12% increase in app purchases and $2 billion more in revenue than the year before. Businesses offering exclusive deals through their mobile apps incentivized customers to download and use the app for their purchases, which helped boost sales through a dedicated channel.
Limited-time offers
Time-limited offers are the essence of Black Friday and Cyber Week, giving shoppers a timeframe for getting the lowest prices of the year on certain products. Creating urgency is a highly effective way to get people to make a faster purchase decision.
Bath & Body Works is exemplary at using limited-time offers; once a year around Black Friday, they run a “Buy 3, Get 3” sale on the whole store for a single day, which encourages customers to stock up while getting their holiday shopping done.
Flash sales and hourly deals are shorter limited-time promotions that generate excitement, traffic, and sales. By highlighting specific products with steep discounts, retailers encourage customers to make instantaneous purchases. Amazon is known for these, which they refer to as Lightning Deals or product discounts available for only a few hours.
Early-bird discounts and exclusive previews
Retailers wanting to avoid overcrowded stores or website crashes can reward those who shop early with exclusive discounts or sneak peeks into Black Friday deals. This creates a feeling of urgency and privilege that leads to a purchase. Best Buy offers its Best Buy Plus and Best Buy Total members exclusive savings during a sale period just for them. They get early access to discounts toward the end of October, after which they open up their early bird deals to the public.
Predictions for Black Friday 2024
Based on what we’ve seen in 2023, we expect the following trends to shape consumer behavior on Black Friday and beyond in 2024.
Consumers will use their phones to shop more often than they already do
Mobile shopping is easy and discreet, allowing customers to shop from anywhere while staying on top of sales. Black Friday mobile orders increased from 2022 to 2023, with over 50% of all Black Friday sales occurring on smartphones. This indicates a growing trust in smartphone transactions among shoppers, which is why 2024 will likely reflect this trend.
As a marketer, this means you should ensure your website is optimized for smartphones and tablets. Ensure load speed is quick, navigation is simple, designs are intuitive, and mobile payment options are available. You also have an opportunity to invite your customers to sign up for SMS or push notifications so they can shop deals immediately after they’re rolled out.
While mobile should be a priority, we still recommend investing in multiple channels to capture online shoppers everywhere they’re buying. Our Graph can help you unify data, capture user activity, and view your target audience holistically to optimize ad spend, allocate resources effectively, and improve ROI.
Marketers will start preparing their Black Friday campaigns earlier than ever
With increasing market competition and pressure to accommodate early bird deal seekers, marketers will likely start preparing their discounts, inventories, and promotional materials earlier in the summer.
Data enrichment can help you prepare early Black Friday promos by providing deeper insights into your customers and what they want. Enriching your existing data with behavioral, financial, and demographic information can help you create precise audience segments and personalized content, anticipate customer preferences, optimize channel placement, and tailor your promotions effectively. On average, Experian has 250 behavioral and demographic marketing attributes per individual, which means we can decorate households and people with marketing data to get a full customer profile and fill in any gaps you have on your audience. You can also consider implementing sell-side targeting to help your promotions reach the right people.
If you plan to run early promotions, try not to create deal fatigue among your consumers. Focus on building a few high-quality promotions that will attract your target customers.
BNPL arrangements will become more common for conversion
Given lingering inflation in the U.S., consumers will still be looking for ways to stretch their money this year, and many shoppers may seek out BNPL arrangements. According to Deloitte, 37% of shoppers have used these services historically, and these arrangements have proven to increase conversions by up to 30%.
With so many shoppers wanting the financial convenience of making large purchases without the immediate financial burden, marketers can use data enrichment to identify their target segments most likely to use BNPL and create personalized offers and promotions for them. Your strategy should include high-value offers and messaging that appeal to budget-conscious shoppers and a checkout optimized for BNPL options.
Channel switching will surge
Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are starting to become channel-agnostic, with consumers browsing online, on mobile apps, in physical stores, and on social media. As such, they expect a unified experience wherever they browse. Any inconsistency can disrupt the purchase journey and deter potential buyers.
As the shopping experience becomes more connected, consumers are moving between channels more frequently, which means integrating data from various touchpoints will be crucial to understanding and predicting customer behavior. Marketers must develop cohesive omnichannel strategies with consistent messaging and promotions across channels. Your campaigns should span multiple channels so customers can engage with your brand in various ways.
We work with major platforms, marketers, and agencies, which means we have existing partnerships across the ecosystem for you to connect with and bring your consumer data to life to meet your needs.
Paid search will drive the most sales
Research from Adobe shows paid search as the top sales driver of Cyber Week 2023, comprising nearly 30% of all online sales. Due to the high-intent customers captured by paid search and the surge in shopping on mobile devices, we expect to see paid search drive much of the Black Friday sales in 2024 — especially as advances in data analytics and AI allow marketers to optimize paid search campaigns more effectively. They can analyze vast amounts of data to refine keywords, ad copy, and bidding strategies for higher ROI and better targeting.
In 2024, it’s essential to prioritize paid search strategies and focus on using relevant, high-performing keywords for your campaigns. You can continuously refine your strategies using AI and data analytics to target high-intent customers. Additionally, integrating insights from customer behavior data will help you create more personalized, impactful ad copy and heighten the effectiveness of your paid search efforts.
Experian can help you win Black Friday 2024
Want your marketing campaigns to stand out and reach your audiences on Black Friday this year? Partner with Experian to create data-driven, targeted, impactful 2024 holiday campaigns.
Our data empowers you to gain valuable insights and optimize your holiday marketing strategies. We can connect online and physical transactions to our Experian household ID for a holistic view of customer behavior, connect ad exposure with foot traffic, or employ control group lift analysis to measure campaign effectiveness. By activating our purchase-based holiday audiences, like last-minute and one-stop holiday shoppers, you can reach the segments most likely to spend with you. Integrating with over 150 channels, we’ll help your campaigns reach your audience wherever they are. You can even utilize our connections to various digital platforms and partners to expand your reach.
With Experian’s measurement offerings, you can make data-driven decisions about your activation strategies. Engage the right audiences and drive exceptional results this holiday season with Experian.
Latest posts
As the nation slowly works its way up to full speed, it’s undeniable that the landscape has changed dramatically for every brand—especially when it comes to marketing and advertising. Many are looking for new ways to better connect with customers to meet their needs and encourage their continued patronage and loyalty, while others are attempting to reach out to a whole new audience who may not have known about them pre-pandemic. But even as brands are eager to get back to normal—whatever the new normal is—much like consumers, they’re faced with an uncertain future that may be affected by new financial restraints. For marketers looking to make a big impact on their bottom line, now is the time to consider pivoting advertising efforts to advanced TV (Connected TV/OTT and addressable TV). While traditionally cost prohibitive for many brands, the pandemic has greatly changed the availability of TV advertising. TV advertising is now more affordable than ever, opening up opportunities to brands who may not have had the ability to include it in their previous marketing plans. Whether it was due to the cancellation of live events or the delay of basketball season, or just general skittishness that’s keeping other brands from spending money on TV advertising, their pivot is to your benefit. There’s no question that consumers’ attitudes toward brands will have changed during the pandemic, which means they might need to be reminded of your brand and what it has to offer. There may be some who are seeing your brand for the first time, or for the first time in a long time. The good news is, people are watching TV now more than ever before. According to Experian’s Consumer Sentiment Index, television consumption is up 41% from mid-May to mid-June. Cable TV viewership has seen a 22% increase over the same period of time, showing that consumers are still connected to traditional TV viewership. Another reason why now is a great time to make advanced TV part of your marketing plan. While many states are still rolling out their re-opening plans, many consumers are still working from home, and the job landscape is still firming up. That means your customers will still be passing the time at home as the landscape continues to shift and change, and their attention will likely be directed toward their TVs. Plus, with consumer spending starting to rebound, you can benefit from this directed attention in a new medium. And consumers aren’t just watching TV on their televisions. Smartphone use is up 41% over last month, as is desktop/laptop use at 38%, and tablet use at 21%. And, when they’re not watching their favorite show on their phones, computers or tablets, they’re visiting advertiser websites and using apps more heavily. This means that brands can supplement their TV advertising with an omnichannel approach to ensure their consumer can connect with them through any device they’re using. All of this may sound intimidating to brands who haven’t previously advertised on TV or executed an omnichannel campaign, but rest assured that the power of data can help make the experience fairly seamless. A data-driven marketing strategy can help brands better understand their audience, including demographics, lifestyle, behavior and attitudes—as well as their preferred engagement channels. This helps ensure that your message resonates and is seen on the devices and channels your audience frequents most. With Experian’s 50+ years of experience with consumer data, you can rely on us to help you execute a data-driven advanced TV campaign that targets the right audience with your message. And we collaborate with all TV operators and have connections with many industry media partners, so you can choose exactly where you want your outreach to go. Find out more about how Experian’s Advanced TV capabilities can help you have more meaningful interactions with people: https://www.experian.com/marketing-services/television-advertising.
Retailers have always known that building a loyal customer base is the key to success. But whether they’d successfully done so or were still working towards their customer loyalty goals in Q1 of 2020, the global pandemic changed everything. With shoppers shifting purchasing habits almost solely online, retailers with an established online presence were able to navigate stay-at-home orders and other business restrictions. As of June 9, 2020, according to Experian’s Consumer Sentiment Index, half of Americans (47%) are buying more online than they did in the past. So those who previously relied on their brick and mortar business may have had difficulty staying afloat. Undeniably, the landscape has shifted dramatically, and it’s about to do so again as stay-at-home orders are lifted and retailers are being given the green light to re-open, albeit with guidelines and restrictions they’ve never faced before. With so many different messages that need to be shared, and the need to stand out among thousands of other retailers working to grab the attention of the same audience, mobile location data is an important tool in a retail marketer’s arsenal. For example, so much of the in-store experience moved online at the start of the pandemic. As a result, a lot of consumers have gotten comfortable with that format and may be apprehensive about the in-store experience, especially with all the changes required for re-opening. Using mobile location data, retailers can identify audiences that are more likely to return to in-store visits, and tailor messaging to address their questions and concerns to encourage their patronage. They can effectively communicate information surrounding the rules for in-store shopping, including face masks, social distancing, how they plan to protect their clientele, and more. If, after sharing their re-opening information, retailers find customers aren’t coming to them but are instead visiting competitors, mobile location data can help them determine consumer patterns based on competitor shopping to gain a greater understanding of why they’re shopping elsewhere. Using this information, retailers can adjust their outreach to better speak to their target customer and their needs, and encourage their visit with more relevant messaging. And of course, there will still be some customers who feel more comfortable continuing with online shopping. Mobile location data can also assist brands in identifying those audiences so that they can adjust their communications strategies and messages accordingly. Meanwhile, many retailers have shifted from a buy online pick up in store (BOPIS) model to buy online pick up at curbside (BOPAC), both for convenience and safety. As restrictions lift, some will soon be shifting back to BOPIS. Mobile location data can help you determine if this is a more preferred method of shopping by analyzing consumer behavior. If customers aren’t ready for an in-store visit but still have needs that could be met by a particular retailer, that brand can create messaging that supports their desire to do their shopping online and pick up their purchase—whether they come inside or opt for curbside pickup. The more retailers know about their customer’s habits, behaviors and interests, the more they can address their needs and concerns with personalized messaging that can make an impact. Additionally, because so much of life moved online during the pandemic, consumer data may be even more fragmented than before, with their attention spread across multiple devices and channels. Using mobile location data—in combination with demographic and psychographic data—retailers can learn more about consumer behavior, including stores visited, shopping preference insights, hobbies, and more. While the retail industry is facing incredible challenges in the wake of unprecedented change, the right data can help them bridge the gap between where they were, and where they want to be—especially when it comes to nurturing consumer connections. And as retail marketers work on new messaging that shares their unique plans for re-opening and emerging post-pandemic, how that communication is delivered, and who it’s delivered to, could make all the difference in a successful re-opening plan. Contact us today to find out how more about Experian’s retail marketing solutions. And be sure to check out our other retail blog posts as well.
Article written by Jill Canetta, Experian Marketing Services’ Chief Data Officer, and Mark Pryzbylski, Experian Automotive’s Senior Director of Product Management At this point, it’s indisputable that the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed everything for everyone on a multitude of levels. And now that the country is moving toward easing stay-at-home restrictions and people are starting to venture out into the world, auto marketers are faced with unique challenges amid an uncertain future and customers who aren’t sure of the best step to take next in their ownership experience or potential vehicle purchase journey. However, that uncertainty provides an opportunity for brands to make deeper connections with current customers and interested consumers—provided they can understand and address their customer’s needs in a supportive way. You need to lead with empathetic messaging that directly addresses their needs and offers support during this challenging time. Data is the starting point, and Experian is ready to help. First, you need to understand what consumer outlook looks like on a national scale, in real time. Using insights gleaned from consumers across the country, Experian created a US Consumer Sentiment Index built on daily survey findings that outlines what customers are thinking and how they’re feeling during COVID-19. As of June 10th, 2020: 44% have automobile payments they need to make monthly, with Millennials and Gen X leading the pack at 50% 21% are considering buying a new vehicle within the next few months, with Millennials at the forefront of this drive at 16% Of those considering a new vehicle, 63% will continue with their purchase as planned, 42% will buy something less expensive, and 18% will consider leasing, with Gen Z leading the last two these categories Certainly, this data can help auto marketers glean the information they may need to begin targeted outreach, especially when sentiment shows there’s still a need and desire to own, lease or rent a vehicle. But this is only part of the picture. To create a complete view of the customer, marketers need to fill in the blanks so they can thoroughly address their needs and let them know they’re both ready to help, and capable of doing so. For example, due to the changing landscape, it’s unlikely that dealership walk-in traffic is going to present the same opportunities for purchase that it once did. This means marketers will have to leverage new avenues to execute their outreach. Using the power of data, auto marketers can identify those who are most likely to be in the market for a new vehicle, such as those coming to end of lease or those who are soon to be in equity on their current vehicles. But how can this information help you in your outreach efforts? Demographic, behavioral, life event, lifestyle, automotive and attitudinal data can help you tailor a compelling message to address their stage of ownership—and potentially address their new or emerging needs as a consumer. Perhaps their child is starting college in the fall and needs a vehicle. Or maybe they’ve downsized and don’t need an SUV anymore, so a compact car would better fit their needs. When it comes to leaseholders, data can show you which leases are coming up for renewal or termination. Regardless of their situation, leaseholders will need to decide on their future vehicle needs whether it means buying their car, leasing another, or going in an entirely new direction—one that may potentially be more cost effective to address the issues they may suddenly be facing. Beyond identifying your target audience, you need to understand how to reach them. We also offer the opportunity for multi-channel media activation, leveraging our relationships with more than 100 media partners and digital platforms to launch and optimize your one-to-one marketing campaign across all channels. And to help you determine the ROI of your offline and online campaigns, our measurement tools help you gain actionable insights for future campaigns with easily digestible dashboards and reports. As we all adjust to the new landscape and find different ways to navigate the current environment, marketers need to be cognizant of how they’re targeting new consumers—especially when the landscape appears to be unstable. By addressing consumers with relevant and thoughtful messaging that supports their needs, marketers now have the opportunity to create deeper connections that can create loyalty that lasts a lifetime. Learn more about how the Experian Marketing Engine for automotive marketers can help.