7 stats from Black Friday 2021
- As of Friday afternoon, Barclaycard reported a 23% increase in payments compared with the same point on Black Friday 2020. The rise also represented a 2.4% increase on Black Friday 2019. These figures will be pleasing for eCommerce retailers who may have wondered whether the growth in 2020 may have been due to the lockdowns in place. But figures from this year show that while the leap can be attributed to lockdown, growth has continued even with shops reopening.
- Similarly, Nationwide also reported that its customers had made 5.95m purchases by 5pm – a 26% increase on figures from 2020 and a 24% rise from 2019.
- Black Friday saw volumes well over three times the average eCommerce traffic volumes we’ve seen so far during 2021. On Thursday and over the weekend, retail traffic was almost double that of a typical day.
- Black Friday traffic volumes were over 2.5 times higher than the previous Friday, showing Black Friday itself remains hugely significant in the eCommerce calendar.
- In terms of total spending, GlobalData estimated that UK consumers were on course to spend a total of £9.2bn over the weekend.
- According to Adobe, total online shopping amounted to £6.7bn ($8.9bn) - although this was slightly lower than the total for 2020.
- Adobe also reported significant “Buy now pay later” growth in November compared to the previous year, with total spending up 422% and the orders up by 438%. It’ll be fascinating to see how this feature is incorporated into checkouts as the months/years go on, particularly with more regulations set to be announced early in 2022.
How to optimise your campaigns for Christmas and the New Year
Even with Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the rear-view mirror, there’s still a chance to make a splash in the sales with Christmas and the post-Christmas sales ahead of us. Here we look at how you can improve your efforts through address capture and validation before looking at the benefits of data cleansing.
Improving your UX with address capture and validation
The average cart abandonment rate is almost 70%, and approximately one-third of shoppers abandon due to a long or complicated checkout. Added to this, bad checkouts are causing six abandoned checkouts per customer every week, and this poor UX is costing UK retailers nearly £45 for every customer.
However, there are some quick and effective ways to improve UX, reduce friction and increase conversions. One of the most effective yet understated tools is type-ahead address capture and validation. A recent study showed that up to 84% of users preferred type-ahead address validation compared to the alternatives, partly because of how easy it is to use. As soon as a user begins typing, accurate and valid addresses are automatically suggested, further narrowing down as the user continues typing. This method can reduce data entry time and keystrokes by 80%.
However, the level of uptake for this technology shows that many businesses should still have cause for concern. Stripe recently reported that 61% of top businesses don’t have address capture technology in their checkouts, and with 1 in 10 deliveries failing in the UK, the potential for revenue lost on failed deliveries over the holiday is also enormous.
For more information on address capture and validation, speak with us now.
Securing better data ahead of Christmas and the New Year
In addition to improving the customer experience, having quality data is crucial when determining the success of your campaigns. Without regular data cleanses, the cost of acquiring new customer emails can rise by over £6, and much of your efforts go to waste when sending to large segments of an address book that is out of date.
If you’re worried about the state of your data, we offer a free data health check to give you a better understanding of the quality and accuracy of your data. The report offers insights on areas to improve and compares your data to companies holding similar data.
Get your free data health check now to boost your campaigns!
