WooCommerce stores gear up for Black Friday Cyber Monday: Key insights from our holiday shopping survey

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Woo reached out to store owners, developers, and partners in the summer of 2024 to hear about their upcoming plans around Black Friday Cyber Monday and the year's busiest shopping season.

The holiday shopping season can make or break online merchants, highlighting the need for a strong plan to prepare stores, test operations, and maximize sales during this period.

• Read the full report and find insights on the report from Woo's Chief Marketing Officer, Tamara Niesen, on the WooCommerce blog
• Visual assets (PDF, PNG) from the report.

Key takeaways from stores preparing for Black Friday Cyber Monday

46% of stores reported that up to 30% of their annual sales volume comes from BFCM and the holiday season.

During BFCM and the holidays: 26% of stores reported they see 30% of their annual sales, and 8% of stores see more than 50% of their annual sales.

44% of stores plan to run a BFCM sale.

Stores with revenues of $250K USD or more were 12% more likely to prepare in advance, and 34% of them prepared one to three months in advance.

66% of stores experience a lift in sales volume over the holiday shopping season (Oct-Dec).

76% of respondents expected their WooCommerce store to be their primary sales channel during the holiday season.

How early do stores prepare?

• 26%: 1 to 4 weeks ahead
• 27%: 1 to 3 months ahead
• 13%: 3 to 6 months ahead
• 4%: 6+ months ahead

Tactics and marketing
26% of stores planned to increase inventory as their primary preparation strategy. This was followed by marketing, promotions, and website optimization.

29% of stores rated email as the most effective marketing channel during the holiday season, followed by organic (25%) + paid  (13%) social, search ads (8%), and content marketing (6%).

67% of stores sell on multiple channels, including physical storefronts to online marketplaces, with 11% of stores on Amazon, 8% on Etsy, and 6% on eBay.

What will stores do differently this year?
34% of merchants plan to switch up their BFCM preparation for this year, including adding new products, making marketing and website changes, and focusing on early sales.

91% of stores used analytics to assess the effectiveness of their campaigns, including Google Analytics, the WooCommerce Analytics Dashboard, and Meteorik.

What we heard…
"The most important thing for us is replenishing the out-of-stock products. That's our biggest challenge."

"…start ads campaign at least 20 days prior"

"Load testing. Speed testing. Database optimization."

Survey respondents

• 35% of stores have been in business 10+ years.
• 43% of businesses have been using WooCommerce for 1-2 years.
• 63% of stores reported annual revenues of up to $250k USD.

About WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the leading ecommerce platform, powering more than 3.6 million online stores (StoreLeads, August 2024). WooCommerce empowers anyone, anywhere, to sell anything with unlimited extensibility and flexibility. Get everything you need to launch an online store in days and keep it growing for years. From your first sale to millions in revenue, Woo is with you.

WooCommerce is built by the team at Woo. Its code is open-source, built on WordPress, and powered by a global community of thousands of developers, designers, agencies, builders, and technology partners. woocommerce.com

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SOURCE WooCommerce