Mobile was a winner this Black Friday weekend, accounting for 67% of traffic and 53% of ecommerce sales. Within this, fashion had a bumper year, bouncing back by 12% AOV compared to 2020 and beauty grew 9%. Overall, however, ecommerce traffic was down 7% year on year.
So finds Nosto’s Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) report , which analysed more than 88 million visits across 907 ecommerce stores over the BFCM weekend in Europe, North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.
Health & Beauty continues to thrive online
Last year, Health & Beauty ecommerce benefited from the pivot to ecommerce which pushed online traffic up 11%, sales up 22%, and conversion rates up 2% during BFCM weekend. This year, although the opening up of in-store shopping may underpin the 6% decrease in online traffic, there were still increases in online sales (2%), conversion rate (1%), and AOV (9%).
“While the year-on-year sales increase is not as big as last year, it looks like consumers’ experience of doing more online shopping for beauty is having a lasting impact,” comments Chloe Pascal, Nosto’s Global Head of Marketing. “People are growing more accustomed to buying beauty online, no doubt helped by retailers’ wider use of innovations such as virtual try-on and video consultations which recreate the feel of an in-store experience to make shoppers feel more confident about their purchases.”
Food & Beverages ecommerce falls away from 2020 high
In 2020, pandemic restrictions on in-store shopping meant Food & Beverages was one of the most successful ecommerce verticals during the BFCM weekend (traffic increased 31% and sales 45%). This year the sector experienced significant decreases in traffic (down 22%) and sales (down 17%).
The good news is that those who are shopping for groceries online are more likely to buy when they visit a store and are spending more when they do – online conversion rates enjoyed a healthy 5% boost, while AOV increased by 6%.
Overall ecommerce traffic down on last year
Globally across ecommerce, traffic is down 7% YOY while sales are up 2%, based on data from Nosto. And compared to last year, people are spending 7% less time on site and viewing 9% fewer pages with conversion rates slightly down (2%). Overall, 69% of traffic, 53% of sales, and 56% of orders were taken on mobile, however, people are still more likely to convert on desktop than mobile (3.9% v 2.26%).
“With conversion rates in fashion falling 9%, and average online orders 12% bigger, it feels like people are being more selective this year,” conlcudes Pascal. “But they’re willing to splash out on more expensive items when they do spend, perhaps because they held back last season. It’s also likely that after last year’s poor numbers, retailers are working harder than ever to encourage shoppers by personalising the experience to show visitors the most relevant products and using bundled offers and tiered discounts – ‘Get 20% off if you spend over £100’ – to boost average order values.”
