Black Friday trends and insights you should be paying attention to

During November 2021, Patchworks processed an average of 42% more orders than any other month between July 2021 and June 2022.

As an ecommerce retailer, can you afford to miss out on that many more transactions?

When preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you need to keep an eye on the biggest trends happening throughout the industry if you want to increase your orders by that much.

Whether it’s insuring yourself against stock shortages, or finding new ways to encourage customers to keep shopping online post-pandemic, here’s our pick for the top BFCM trends you need to pay attention to in 2022.

Stock issues

There was no shortage of news stories about stores selling out rapidly last year, which is ironic considering there was certainly a shortage of stock.

This was particularly prevalent in the electronics sector. Most notably, newly released and highly popular games consoles such as the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 quickly sold out and shortages even carried on throughout the start of 2022.

For consumers, this becomes a huge problem. Many shoppers, particularly parents, wait until the holiday sales period to purchase more expensive products like games consoles so that they arrive in time for Christmas. And there’s nothing more disappointing than either spending a fortune on pre-ordering a product which doesn’t come in time, or being unable to purchase it at all due to a shortage.

This is something which may be likely to continue even into BFCM 2022, particularly for in-demand products which use rare and difficult to source parts.

Businesses may therefore instead choose to focus on placing their flagship deals on products which are at lower risk of being held up in the supply chain. They may not be as popular, but overselling products during BFCM and having to issue hundreds of apologies and refunds is far more damaging to the bottom line than playing it safe.

How will in-demand products from last BFCM fare?

Continuing from that point, one thing to watch out for and consider is how out of stock products which were brand new last holiday season will perform a year later.

People will jump at the chance to get a Black Friday deal on a new, expensive item like games consoles and other electronics. But there’s also people who are happy to wait until next Christmas, and with supply chain and stock issues plaguing 2021, that wait may pay off for shoppers this year.

With so many disappointed customers failing to buy their desired products over BFCM, many of those products which went out of stock may see an even bigger sale this time around to encourage people to make a purchase.

A return to in-store shopping

During COVID, in-store shopping dropped by at least 28% as people prioritised their safety and laws limited outdoor activities.

However, that didn’t mean people stopped shopping completely; it just meant a change in attitudes. The ecommerce industry saw an increase in sales of over 50% in 2021 compared to 2019, before the pandemic.

This could result in one of two things. The first is that, now people have adjusted to a certain way of living during COVID, they’ll continue to rely on online shopping now they appreciate its convenience.

However, the opposite is also possible. Some customers are tired of staying at home, and even just a trip to the shop can be a way to be active and appreciate the outdoors.

In fact, in 2021, 77% of shoppers visited a physical store during Black Friday. That’s a huge number which indicates that the consumer relishes the return to an in-person experience, and the trend could be even more prevalent this BFCM.

Shopping spread across the holiday months

Not everyone wants to wait for one single day to do all of their holiday shopping, and ecommerce offers more flexibility than physical stores are often capable of.

An interesting point to note is the difference between the in-store Black Friday experience and the online one. We’ve all seen videos of shoppers storming stores trying to grab the best deals before they sell out, practically fighting over the latest toys and gadgets. Previously, BFCM online couldn’t be more different; there’s no queues to wait in, so as long as customers checkout in a reasonable time, it’s unlikely they’ll experience rapidly selling out items.

But as we’ve discussed with 2021’s stock shortages, we might begin to see these experiences align. Of course, there’s no waiting in line on a virtual marketplace, but people may need to rush to their favourite websites and buy as quickly as possible before their desired items go out of stock.

The result, as we’ve started to already see in the last couple of years, is that shoppers are happy to do their holiday shopping spread over all of the Winter months. In fact, in 2021, only 30% of shoppers said they planned to do their shopping on Black Friday, whilst 45% said they planned to start it in September and in the run up to BFCM.

This is a trend likely to continue in 2022. Ecommerce companies will need to responsibly manage their supply chains to avoid shortages, and by spreading deals across multiple months, they can avoid disappointing customers who don’t purchase in time on Black Friday.

The downside for consumers is that companies won’t be able to sustain the huge price slashes typical of BFCM over multiple weeks or even months. A longer sales period is great for convenience and stock management - but you may not be able to impress as much with your discounts.

It’s time to prepare

There might be a few months to go still, but it’s never too early to start planning your BFCM strategy.

It’s especially important to look at data and insights from previous years to inform your decisions.

One way to prepare for BFCM is by making sure your integrations are up to scratch. With the Patchworks platform, we empower you to take control of your own integrations through a self-serve dashboard and no-code/low-code capabilities.

For more information, get in touch with us through our website for a free consultation and demo.