Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2020 Recap - TribeTalk EP 64

This week, Halley joins account directors Jayca, Chris, and Angela to unpack Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2020. 

No surprise here: brands started their promotions earlier than ever this year. Beyond being just the general trend of eCommerce on the rise, this reflected the need for eCommerce brands to adapt to a new shopping normal in light of COVID-19, and compete with the big dogs from brick-and-mortar store venturing into eCommerce to catch shoppers who would usually visit them in-store. 

While sales in November have soared, we’re now looking more closely to see what will happen in December. Due to high shipping demand, shipping delays are expected to impact delivery times, which may influence more shoppers to get their gifts in person and avoid buying from eCommerce stores. 

Some BFCM trends we noticed this year:

• The market was extremely saturated this year, causing CPMs to skyrocket beyond numbers we’ve seen in previous years. 
• Cyber Monday didn’t see the same peak in sales as in previous years, most likely because brands began offering their BFCM deals as early as November 1. 
• Language around shipping couldn’t be as firm because of possible shipping delays, so brands have changed up language to help manage expectations.
• A lot more purchases were started and completed via mobile this year--mobile purchases increased by 67%. 
• We noticed that single image ads with text overlay that obviously stated promos outperformed other types of ads.

What are some key takeaways from BFCM 2020 to take into next year? Here’s what our guests had to say:

• It’s more important than ever to start your BFCM planning early, and test your budget, audiences, and messaging ahead of time.
• Short-form copy and simple messages perform the best this time of year.
• CPMs are going to continue going up, so make sure you’re focused on boosting AOV and conversion rate.
• Sitewide discounts are extremely successful, but you’ll want to make sure the offer is over 20% to catch the attention of shoppers.

And a big question on our minds: is BFCM becoming less significant for eCommerce sales? Well, we all agree that the answer is no. But we do anticipate that sales will continue to start early, sales will soar on Black Friday, but the peaks we’re used to might shift a little as shoppers and eCommerce brands adapt to a new normal.