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Affiliate Marketing Trends for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

By Cadence Morrison, Director of Client of Experience

With Black Friday less  than a week away it’s an excellent time to examine current eCommerce trends and how they will affect affiliate programs this holiday season.

eCommerce Spending

According to Statista’s data, eCommerce spending over the five-day Black Friday/Cyber Monday holiday grew an astounding 274% between 2008-2014. Most recently in 2014, eCommerce spending over the holiday weekend grew 23% over 2013. Consumers have taken advantage of the online deals, free shipping and the comfort of not fighting the crowds in traditional brick and mortar stores. This year, many online retailers have already started offering Black Friday deals early to drive their eCommerce sales.

Mobile vs. Desktop

Smart devices have made our lives easier for a number of reasons and now we can add Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping to that list. Consumers are using their mobile devices to look up product details and compare prices while in stores. A recent article in Internet Retailer noted that in 2014, 37% of eCommerce sales from Black Friday through Cyber Monday were made from smart devices (mobile devices, tablets, etc.). While traditional desktop sales still make up a majority of Black Friday/Cyber Monday eCommerce sales, trends show consumers are getting more comfortable using their mobile devices to make purchases.

Social Media

Social media now plays a huge role in Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. Each year more and more consumers are taking to social media to share information about retailer promotions, holiday deals and popular brands.  There were 2,013,943 Black Friday conversations tracked in 2014, more than doubling the number of conversations tracked in the previous year. Not only do these conversations contain keywords to search, they’re also including deep links to take consumers directly to the items they’re interested in. This behavior shows that a retailers’ social teams are not only able to build relationships, but also drive revenue.