Quick Takeaways From This Year’s Cyber 5
Everything about Cyber Weekend is capital “B” big.
It’s the kickoff to the big holiday shopping season. One of the busiest traffic days for ecommerce sites. And most importantly:
The biggest sales period of the year for many online retailers.
This year was no different. But now that it’s over, your business already knows how big it was. And frankly, we’re sure you could use a break now that the dust has settled.
That’s why we’re providing a quick recap of last weekend’s biggest takeaways, with at-a-glance insights and next steps that should only take a few seconds (give or take) to read through—leaving you plenty of time to prepare as we start the countdown for 2025!
Except where stated, the data below was taken from over 600 million customer sessions between Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024, attributed to thousands of Monetate clients across the retail & ecommerce space. Learn more about who we serve here.
Cyber Weekend At-a-Glance
Increase in CVR
Uplift in RPS
Customer Orders
Conversions Were Way Up in 2024
Conversion rates for Monetate clients jumped by over 22% between Cyber Weekend 2023 and 2024. However, revenue per retailer remained mostly static, dropping less than one percentage point YoY.
What this means for you
Higher conversion rates are certainly something to celebrate. While the fact that revenue remained the same indicates that many retailers offered steep discounts this year (an average of 28% according to Bloomberg), the increase in CVR suggests that these brands also used personalized testing tools to improve their on-page content, messaging, and checkout efficiency in order to capture more customers.
How to plan for next year
Discounts can be an effective way to increase sales but can also be a double-edged sword. A/B testing can help businesses create a sustainable price-cutting strategy that encourages higher conversions and revenue per session.
Both Total Sessions and Revenue Per Session Rose
Monetate’s top 200 retailers saw 30 million more customer sessions during Cyber Weekend 2024—a 6% increase YoY. Meanwhile, revenue per session was up by over 8%.
What this means for you
Our quarterly ecommerce benchmarks have shown that page views have generally been trending upward throughout 2024, especially in the UK. The fact that revenue per session also increased during this critical shopping period reinforces analyst predictions that consumer confidence is on the rise. According to Deloitte, discretionary spending intentions rose for the fifth month straight in December.
How to plan for next year
Striking while the iron is hot is your best bet at turning visitors into customers. Using advanced targeting and segmentation tools can help you better understand which customer cohorts (e.g., repeat vs. new shoppers) are driving increased RPS, allowing you to tailor your on-site experience for each buyer.
More Orders, Lower AOV
Customers placed over 20 million orders during Cyber Weekend 2024—a 5% jump from 2023. However, AOV dropped by nearly 12% YoY.
What this means for you
Similar to the increase in conversion rates, more doesn’t always mean more when it comes to holiday shopping. Retailers overleveraged discounts this year, bringing in more customers at the expense of their bottom line. According to Ecommerce Strategy Consultant Rick Watson: “…it seems to me that the big continue to get bigger, and the brands that lack luster continue to struggle in this economy without deep discounts.”
How to plan for next year
Offering tiered promos is one way to encourage larger basket sizes—for instance, “Spend $50 and save 10%; Spend $100 and save 20%, etc.” Dynamic testing can help you fine-tune this messaging across key areas of the buyer journey in order to improve AOV without compromising volume.
Have You Started Planning for 2025?
Ecommerce retailers may be breathing a sigh of relief now that Cyber Weekend is over. But the reality is that Black Friday 2025 is just around the corner.
Ready to get prepared? The right personalization partner makes it (at least a little) easier. Monetate, named the #1 Personalization Vendor to the IR1000 by DC360, helps top retailers and brands all year long to build compelling and tailored customer experiences across channels and devices that can respond to real-time changes in customer behavior, ensuring that brands can capture business during the most critical times of the season.