Black Friday/Cyber Monday Performance ReportPublished: September 2009 | By Yahoo!
Overview
As we approach another holiday season, the Yahoo! Network looked back at last year’s consumer patterns to help marketers improve their effectiveness during this critical time of year. The Yahoo! Network analyzed online advertising effectiveness on Black Friday and Cyber Monday of 2008, and compared it to data in the preceding four weeks of November. The report showed that not only is Cyber Monday a top online shopping day, but that the traditional, offline, Black Friday also proved to be a significant day for online sales conversions.
Methodology
The Yahoo! Network Insights team examined over 2.6 Billion ad impressions of retail advertising clients delivered across the Yahoo! Network during the month of November 2008, as well as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Click through rates, sales conversions and online retail traffic were compared to determine how online advertising performed on the most critical shopping days of the year.
Results
The study found that while online traffic was up, click through rates were down 27% on both days, but sales conversions rose considerably. When compared with the average day in November, Black Friday saw an increase in conversions of 147% and Cyber Monday was 73% higher. The Yahoo! Network believes that consumers were doing product selection throughout the month, in preparation for converting at the highest rates on those days, which mimics offline consumer shopping patterns.
Black Friday/Cyber Monday Performance Report
Conclusion
The impact of this data on the actual effectiveness of online advertising on both days is significant. The results suggest that online shoppers are more likely to convert on Black Friday than Cyber Monday, but both days appear to be highly effective for online advertisers. The click through rates were lower, indicating that online merchants should be investing throughout the month of November to build the awareness to drive lower funnel activities during the holiday shopping season, while also reserving significant spend to drive conversions on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
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