A new report has analysed key trends from Black Friday 2024, providing eCommerce retailers with data to help inform strategies for the upcoming peak shopping season in 2025.
The report was published by Ecommpay in partnership with the UK eCommerce Association, IMRG, and cookieless attribution software provider Corvidae, and reviews performance metrics from the 2024 Black Friday and Christmas period. The analysis combines data from IMRG's Online Retail Index, the Daily Black Friday Tracker, and detailed figures from over 360 retail sites during November 2024.
Trends and growth
According to the report, Black Friday 2024 experienced a 3.1% growth compared to the previous year, marking it once again as a significant event for online retail revenue. However, there was also a 3.8% increase in bounce rates, indicating more shoppers left websites without engaging compared to Black Friday 2023. Specialist retailers were found to have achieved stronger year-on-year revenue growth than multi-category retailers during this period.
Further insights showed changes in customer engagement across marketing channels. Direct mail and email traffic to eCommerce sites fell by 1% each, while paid social traffic grew by 1% year-on-year. The research also found that the average conversion rate for Black Friday week in 2024 was 4.6%. A notable finding was the strong correlation between offering higher headline discounts and increased rates of completed checkouts.
Customer journey insights
The report highlighted shifting entry points for online shoppers. More sessions began on specific product pages (36.9%) than on home pages (12.6%), suggesting that consumers increasingly arrived via targeted product links, either through search engines, direct product referrals, or marketing efforts focused on individual items.
"Christmas planning in July is a well recognised trend in the retail sector, and 2025 will be no different", commented Roy Blokker, Head of Strategic Sales, Ecommpay. "While stock may already have been planned and ordered, many online retailers will now be planning marketing strategies and promotions to capitalise on the peak sales season at the end of the year."
Blokker continued by stressing the value of reviewing previous campaigns:
"Looking back on the 2024 festive season provides valuable learning to inform 2025 strategies. Bounce rates rose last year, basket abandonment improved slightly, and checkout abandonment stayed almost the same. It seems that while more people left sites early, those who stayed were more committed to completing their purchase.
The importance of the checkout journey was also addressed. Blokker added:
"As well as ensuring they line up the most appealing discounts and special offers to entice customers to purchase, merchants should ensure they have done everything they can to remove obstacles in the checkout journey. We know from previous research that most drop-offs occur at the payment stage, highlighting a key point for retailers to get right. Offering the right payment methods, a range of currencies and Buy Now Pay Later options can make a significant difference to conversions."
Payment solutions and conversion
The report identifies that expanding payment and currency options at checkout can aid conversion, especially as most drop-offs occur during the payment process. Ecommpay's platform is cited as providing more than 100 alternative payment methods (APMs) through a single integrated system, allowing customers across different regions to use familiar payment mechanisms.
Another feature highlighted is the ability for merchants to offer currency choices on the payment page. This function enables customers to pay in their preferred currency, matching the purchase transaction with the currency of their payment card, providing both transparency and flexibility.
The Ecommpay 'Try Again' feature was also described in the report. If a customer's initial payment method fails, they are given the option to retry or select an alternative without leaving the transaction, which the report suggests is critical for reducing payment declines and subsequently minimising checkout abandonment.
The full report, titled Black Friday and Christmas Review 2024, is available from Ecommpay and offers retailers comprehensive analysis on revenue sources by marketing channel, conversion patterns, abandonment rates, and the popularity of discount types to support planning for November and December 2025.
