With UK shoppers tipped to spend a predicted £3 billion on Black Friday in 2023, margin protection and mobile engagement will spell the key to successful Cyber Week campaigns, the latest report from Wunderkind, the leading cross-channel performance marketing solution, reveals.
According to Wunderkind’s Marketing Pulse, which analysed over 52 million shopper journeys ahead of Black Friday 2022, last year’s Black Friday weekend saw UK online revenues rise +2.3% year-on-year as shoppers snapped up deals. Original data in its 2023 Black Friday and Beyond Report showed that, across its global customer base, Cyber Week alone generated between 6-9% of annual revenue for brands and retailers last year, highlighting the significant revenue opportunity the discounting event presents.
And with Average Order Values (AOV) during Cyber Week 2022 reaching £117 ($144) last year according to Wunderkind’s data, demand from shoppers over Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) is expected to remain buoyed in 2023, prompted by an increasingly price-sensitive UK consumer looking for deals. The latest figures predict that, despite the cost-of-living pressures on household budgets, UK shoppers will still splash out £3 billion on Black Friday deals.
But with discount demand and price-sensitivity remaining high, and retailers already facing rising costs across their operations, the onus is on retailers to base discounting on customer data to protect margin, as Jon Halley, Regional VP at Wunderkind, explained:
“Whilst the lure of Black Friday deals will undoubtedly be appealing to consumers whose disposable incomes are being squeezed, the challenge for retailers will be meeting strong demand for discounts with strategies that offer customers value while protecting margin.”
“Offering discounts to your most loyal customers first is one way to be strategic during peak trading. Identifying and understanding your customers – and knowing each customer’s propensity to convert and lifetime value – allows for smarter choices and avoids discounting pressures creating a race to the bottom, where prices are aimlessly slashed at the expense of profits,” he added.
Mobile commerce will prove even more prominent for peak 2023
Wunderkind’s report also predicts mobile will be the channel driving conversions this Black Friday.
In the last three years, mobile conversions have rapidly surpassed desktop conversions. In 2021, mobile commerce outperformed desktop for the first time, accounting for 49% of conversions compared to 48% of desktop sales. Last year, mobile expanded its lead, accounting for 53% of conversions — 8% higher than desktop, a trend that is expected to continue in the 2023 Golden Quarter.
“With more customers checking out on their phones, retailers can’t afford to neglect mobile commerce this BFCM,” Halley suggests. “And that means mobile-first marketing channels – including text messaging – are becoming increasingly important in creating a seamless journey for customers to shop on their devices, shortening the time to conversion.”
