Black Friday 2023: Data, Insights, and Trends

After a challenging few years for eCommerce, Black Friday and Cyber Weekend once again gave retailers the chance to gain valuable sales for a successful end to the year. But did Black Friday 2023 live up to expectations? We’ve analysed the data to uncover Black Friday 2023 insights, statistics, and trends that can help your campaign planning for 2024.

Cyber Weekend continues to influence buying behaviour and drive valuable revenue, making up a significant proportion of eCommerce retail sales, with consumers spending $9.8 billion in online sales on Black Friday 2023.¹

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the behaviours we saw last year and offer you a preview of the findings, statistics and insights from our report: The Ultimate Black Friday Playbook 2024.

The eCommerce landscape

eCommerce has faced its fair share of challenges in recent years. From increased competition within the industry to the rising price of advertising and the continued cost of living crisis which has hugely impacted consumer spending, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for online merchants.

The growth in the number of eCommerce storefronts has led to an increase in marketing costs for many brands. With a multitude of brands fighting for the same audiences and advertising space, it’s becoming more difficult to secure those all-important sales and differentiate from competitors. 

Alongside this, we’ve also seen retailers having to adapt to ever-changing behaviour and purchasing patterns from their shoppers due to the continued cost of living crisis. These rising living costs have seen almost 64% of adults in the UK cut down their spending on non-essential items.²

There’s no denying that the 2023 landscape has been challenging for both shoppers and retailers but how did this affect Black Friday 2023?

Post-Black Friday 2023 insights

Cyber Weekend accounted for 25% of total sales for November 2023,  suggesting that in a turbulent economy, shoppers are waiting for the Black Friday period to make use of big savings. 

eCommerce revenue also increased 6.94% YoY on Black Friday. While some of this may be explained by the rising cost of goods and inflation across the board, it tells us that shoppers are still opting to invest during the Black Friday period to get more value for their money. 

It’s been reported in previous years Black Friday is no longer a single-day event and that holds true in 2023. Consumer spending started increasing from the 11th of November in the run-up to the Black Friday period, highlighting how far in advance shoppers are starting their spending to reflect a more drawn-out sales season throughout November.

To access further information on the above data and gain the full breakdown of the Cyber Weekend period, you can find these outlined in our guide The Ultimate Black Friday Playbook 2024.

What does this mean for retailers?

With marketing costs climbing and shopper spending fluctuating, having up-to-date consumer behaviour data can help make your Golden Quarter a success.

Keeping up with changing buying habits can also ensure you’re making the right decisions when it comes to outlining future strategies. 

This latest report pulls together buying patterns and shopping behaviour over Cyber Weekend to identify consumer traits you can act on to boost sales in Q4 and beyond.

¹Winners and losers of Black Friday 2023 | Retail Dive

²Cost of living insights: Spending – Office for national statistics