In a year marked by the challenging landscape of rising interest rates and persistent inflation concerns, consumers have acutely felt the financial squeeze. This has resulted in many retailers reporting that shoppers are increasingly cautious with their discretionary spending, prioritizing groceries instead.
Despite this, Adobe Analytics predicted that online spending during the Cyber5 weekend (Thanksgiving through to Cyber Monday) would increase 5.4% from 2022. Engage3 has analyzed the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals offered by Amazon, examining the strategies employed to allure even the most discerning shoppers into parting with their hard-earned cash.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon had 42.5% fewer deals on Cyber Monday than Black Friday, with a lower average depth of discount of 26.5%
- The Electronics category had the most product deals on Black Friday but fell behind the Kitchen & Dining category on Cyber Monday
- Amazon 1P items were more listed than 3P sellers making up 57.3% on Black Friday and 58.8% on Cyber Monday.
Adobe Analytics reported that Black Friday sales rose 7.5% compared to 2022, but again Cyber Monday was the more-important day online with sales rising 9.6% to $12.4bn, retaining its crown as the biggest online shopping day of the year. Here is the approach Amazon employed to navigate both of these pivotal days.
42.5% fewer deals on Cyber Monday than Black Friday
Engage3 has found that Amazon significantly reduced the number of deals on Cyber Monday compared to Black Friday. All the categories saw a significant decrease in deals, but overall, it fell an average of 42.5%.
The Beauty & Personal category saw the smallest reduction with only 29.8% fewer deals on Cyber Monday, in Grocery the number of deals fell 84.5%.
Average depth of discount also falls 1.7% on Cyber Monday from Black Friday
Amazon’s average depth of discount also fell on Cyber Monday to 26.5% from 28.2% on Black Friday. Grocery may have had a large fall in the number of deals, but it was the only category that had an increase in average depth of discount (+0.5%). Beauty & Personal Care saw its average depth of cut fall to 25.7% from 29.7%.
Cyber Monday has traditionally been associated with Electronics and Technology deals and purchases; however, our analysis shows that there were more deals on Black Friday in the Electronics category and at a greater average discount (28.8% vs 26.9%).
More than half of deals on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday were sold by Amazon (1P)
On Black Friday an average of 57.3% of deals were sold by Amazon (1P) this only increased on Cyber Monday to 58.8%. Kitchen & Dining and Power Tools & Hand Tools were the only categories that saw an increase in the proportion of 3P deals on Cyber Monday. Power Tools & Hand Tools saw the biggest move to 3P deals with the proportion increasing by 7.9%, however, Amazon 1P products still accounted for 71.5% of all deals.
Almost two-thirds of Cyber Monday deals were also listed on Black Friday
On Cyber Monday, 66.5% of product deals were also listed on Black Friday. Power Tools & Hand Tools had the greatest overlap with 78.5% of Cyber Monday deals featuring on Black Friday. Toys & Games had the least overlap with 56.9% of Cyber Monday Toy deals also on Black Friday.
Samsung was the most listed Electronics brand, on the first page of deals, on Black Friday
Looking at the brands that occupied the most visible first page of deals we see that Panasonic had the most listed products on the Beauty & Personal Care and Health & Household shelves on Black Friday with its Electric Hair Removal products. Samsung products, including its TV’s, Cell Phones and Tablets, accounted for 13.7% of the products on the first page of Electronics Black Friday deals. DEWALT beat out Craftsman in Power Tools & Hand Tools with 18.9% of product deals versus 13.2%.
Amazon’s focus on Black Friday over Cyber Monday could be to combat shopper Black Friday fatigue
As the curtain falls on this year’s Cyber5 weekend, we can see Amazon channeled more of its resources into Black Friday than Cyber Monday. Amazon started its Black Friday deals on 17 November and Walmart first Black Friday deals started on 8 November. In a landscape where Black Friday deals stretched across more than half of November for some retailers, Amazon’s deliberate emphasis on the Black Friday over Cyber Monday could suggest a keen awareness of potential shopper fatigue during the traditional Black Friday rush.
Click here to request more insight into your category over the Cyber5 weekend or to find out how Engage3 helps retailers and brands improve their pricing performance and compete more profitably through data science & analytics. Also stay tuned to our blogs and LinkedIn as we’ll be publishing more insights into the Cyber5 weekend from other retailers.
