Black Friday eCommerce trends: How to increase sales on Black Friday

November 12, 2024 — Advertiser tips, eCommerce, US traffic

Black Friday is an American shopping event that gained international popularity in 2010 and will begin on November 29th, 2024 this year. In this article, we will explore Black Friday eCommerce trends and how to increase sales on Black Friday. This article is particularly useful for Advertisers promoting offers in Tier 1 countries in Europe and English-speaking regions like the United States. We will also examine internal data from our Analytics department to help you identify the most used devices during Black Friday, the best ad formats, and locations for your offers. If you are an Advertiser looking to have the best Black Friday advertising campaigns in 2024, keep reading!

What are most popular purchases during Black Friday?

In 2023, US online spending during Black Friday reached $222.1 billion, with 65% coming from five main categories: Electronics ($50.8 billion), Apparel ($41.5 billion), Furniture ($27.3 billion), Groceries ($19.1 billion), and Toys ($7.7 billion).

How to increase sales on Black Friday

Source: Queue-It

TIP! If you want to know how to increase sales on Black Friday, on way is by promoting your offers on the Monday before Black Friday. You can start you campaign with a pre-Black Friday sale. About 2 days before Black Friday you can start a retargeting campaign for those who clicked on the offer during the week but did not complete a transaction. After Black Friday weekend you could try another retargeting campaign with the tag line ‘last chance to buy’. Try emphasizing the value the end user can get and how this is the last time they will get this offer.

Now that we have explored what kind of offers perform best, and when you should start your campaigns, let’s take a look at some of our expected Black Friday eCommerce trends based on our internal data.

Most used devices during Black Friday

When creating a campaign, it’s essential to choose your target devices. To reach a wider audience, consider including Desktop, Mobile, and Tablet. Just ensure your creatives work well across all devices.
Over the last few years, there has been a steady increase in the number of online purchases made on Mobile. However, our research shows that for Black Friday 2023, 79.1% of end users were looking for eCommerce offers on Desktop. This is a 5.2% increase in Desktop use when compared to the week before Black Friday. Based on the data we believe this Black Friday eCommerce trend will continue into 2024.

Most used devices during Black Friday

Top 10 GEOs for Black Friday

Based on impressions, here are the top 10 GEOs for Black Friday in Europe and Tier 1 English-speaking countries. The US is number one with 33.3% of the eCommerce ad impressions during the week of Black Friday, followed by Germany (26.4%) and France (11.7%). It is important to note that almost half of the top ten GEOs speak English as their first language, making English a good option for your campaign text.

Top ten Geos for Black Friday 2024

Now that we have looked at the best GEOs and the device split of impressions during the Black Friday period, let’s look at some of the best ad formats for Mobile and Desktop!

What are the best ad formats for Black Friday on Mobile

We have seen that Mobile is one of the most used devices during Black Friday. If you’re looking to promote offers on Mobile, consider using Video ads. In-Stream, Outstream, and Slider formats all had significant increases in impressions during Black Friday on mobile when compared to the week before.

#1 Use In-Stream Video ads for Black Friday:

In-Stream had a significant increase in impressions of 50.6% on mobile during the week of Black Friday compared to the week before the event. In-Stream Video ads are the ads that play automatically when an end user clicks on a website Video, inside of the video player itself. It is customizable with a CTA that redirects the end user to your landing page in another tab without interrupting the end user experience. This format is also compliant with the IAB Standards as it features a ‘Skip Ad’ button that appears after 5 seconds.

TIP! Test different In-Stream placements: If you are wondering how to increase sales on Black Friday try use Pre-Roll and Post-Roll ads. Experimenting with these placements and use engaging CTAs like “Click here for the best odds,” “Try for free,” or “Sign up for Free!” for the best Black Friday advertising campaigns!

#2 Use Slider Video ads for Black Friday:

There was a 63% increase in the number of impressions generated by Slider Video ads during the week of Black Friday compared to the week before. The Slider Video format slides in from the bottom right of a webpage once the website page has loaded and it features a close ad button which ensures your ad is complying with the IAB Standards.

TIP! Make your Black Friday offers time-sensitive and present them as a unique opportunity. Consider adding a countdown timer to your Video ad. To have the best Black Friday advertising campaigns you could offer a 24-hour discount for Black Friday or extend it for 96 hours to include Cyber Monday as well.

#3 Use Outstream Video ads for Black Friday:

The biggest increase in impressions last year was Outstream with a staggering 118.1% increase in impressions during the week of Black Friday. Outstream Video ads are triggered on the webpage your end user opens on the Publisher’s site. In preselected placements, it displays and plays on mute once 50% of the ad zone is viewable to the end user. As the end user scrolls the Video ad will pause and resume when the end user returns to the content where the Outstream ad is located.

TIP! Ensure that you enable Frequency Capping, which allows you to restrict the number of times a unique user will see your Video ad, to prevent Video ad blindness. We recommend a 1/12 frequency rate.

Best ad formats for Black Friday on Desktop

The two best ad formats for Advertisers this Black Friday on Desktop are Native ads and Banner ads. Based on last year’s Black Friday event, these formats had the largest increase in impressions on Desktop and maybe help you have the best Black Friday advertising campaigns in 2024.

Use Native ads for Black Friday campaigns on Desktop!

Native ads had a 1.3% increase in impressions during Black Friday on Desktop. Native ads come in a variety of formats including Native Recommendation, Exit, and Interstitial. It consists of an image, a short title, and a short description (title 50 characters, the description 90 characters or less). It is a very engaging format that grabs the attention of your audience.

TIP! Remember that the content on Native ads should follow an editorial flow. Create special landing pages and ‘Gift Guides’. Use ad titles like ‘Top Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!’. This will help you to upsell your additional related products or services.

Use Banner ads for Black Friday campaigns on Desktop!

Banner ads are a classic display format and are highly effective. During Black Friday, there was a 7.3% increase in impressions on Banner ads on Desktop. Display Banners come in a variety of sizes and placements on websites. ExoClick also includes Video Banner ads as an option for Advertisers looking to make an even greater impression. When creating Banner ads it is important to remember this is a top funnel strategy as it raises awareness, authority, and consideration with your audience.

TIP! Use our RDA feature which automatically resizes your Banner ads to fit more zones. This helps you to get your campaigns running quickly and increases your reach and retargeting opportunities.