Payday for retail: Pent up demand leads to record surge in this year’s BFCM weekend

New global data from full-funnel performance agency Nest Commerce has revealed a record-breaking BFCM weekend,  with a significant increase in advertiser spend year-on-year, up 22% YoY.

The report is based on the Nest Index of more than 40+ ecommerce brands being responsible for more than £100M of media spend.

The weekend fell much later in the month than it has in recent years, and the report identifies spend picking up far later than usual in November.

A sluggish start to peak, combined with a payday boost on Friday, made competition particularly aggressive this Black Friday. Correspondingly, (Cost per Mille) CPM was up by 21% YoY on Friday, although it dropped sharply in the following days.

The UK market demonstrated strong efficiency throughout the weekend, with an average CPM that was 14% lower YoY. Meanwhile, the US market was more competitive, with average CPM up by 6% YoY in the US.

Brands participating in Black Friday experienced a significant increase in average click-through rate, up 36% YoY on Black Friday itself. However, engagement was notably lower for brands not running sales, down by 31% YoY, as their ads struggled to capture similar attention.

Brands that leveraged full-funnel strategies had 41% higher spend YoY. By effectively generating demand ahead of the peak, these brands were better positioned to scale and capture the heightened demand during the weekend. In comparison, spend for brands relying solely on (Bottom of the Funnel) BOF strategies was up by just 10% YoY, as these brands lacked the headroom to reach new audiences.

According to Will Ashton, CEO of Nest Commerce said, “This year’s Black Friday, occurring later than usual, has been a bumper one. The alignment with UK payday further amplified performance, making it a highly competitive weekend.

“While ad performance took time to ramp up, brands that invested in top-of-funnel marketing in the months leading up have really reaped the rewards. These results highlight the vital importance of a full-funnel approach and forward planning in ecommerce marketing. While the weekend may be over, there are still plenty of sales opportunities for retailers this year, including in the period after Christmas.”