Globally, the peak minute of shopping occurred on Black Friday at 2:09 pm ET on November 24, 2023, according to an update shared by Square. Cities with the largest volume of sales were New York, Los Angeles, London, Chicago, and Miami.
Over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, millions of Square and Afterpay sellers across the world set a new record “with 70M transactions, up 14% from last year.”
Consumers continued to “display diverse shopping habits as in-person shopping increased 15%, while online cart sizes were 3.9X higher than in-person, reinforcing the need for sellers to optimize their omnichannel strategy for the remainder of the holiday season.”
Similarly, 9% more businesses leveraged “the power of omnichannel by attracting buyers both in-person and online.”
Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend proved “to be busy for businesses beyond traditional retail.”
According to Square data, restaurants experienced “a 15% increase in transactions, while 23% more restaurants sent Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday discounts to promote their business.”
Square also reportedly “found 108% more beauty and wellness sellers leaned into the shopping weekend by sending Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday discounts. Considering that in 2022, the most popular time for holiday appointments was December 20 – December 23, beauty sellers used the weekend to promote their services early in the holiday season.”
Despite a big weekend, the shopping season is “just beginning.”
Last year, cart sizes in food, retail, and beauty “grew 12% between the first week of December and the week before Christmas as consumers increased budgets to spoil friends and family.”
Consumers proved they want convenience and options “with activated subscriptions growing 31% and pre-orders for hot-ticket items leading to transactions being 1.2X higher than the average Square Online order. Gift cards also reigned supreme with more than 338K sold, and most notably in food and beverage, retail, beauty and personal care, and healthcare and fitness industries.”
The average discount offered “was 22% across all channels, with 35% more sellers offering discounts over the weekend.”
Square and Afterpay’s Festive Forecast found “that 71% of Americans intended to shop for cheaper alternatives this holiday season as they look for deals to maximize savings, and sellers clearly understood this sentiment by leaning into a discounting strategy.”
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) transactions “through Afterpay increased 19%, and Square sellers saw their Afterpay transactions grow 47%.”
The largest Afterpay item categories “outside of fashion and beauty were hardware, home and garden, arts and entertainment, office supplies, and electronics as consumers used BNPL for more choice and flexibility at checkout during the holidays. As the popularity of mobile commerce increases, more consumers turned to the Afterpay app for all their shopping needs, with app usage up 16%.”
Methodology:
All data presented are unaudited and “subject to adjustment.”
Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Square and Afterpay had “analyzed millions of transactions across all seller industries globally in 2023 from November 23, 11:00 UTC to November 27, 23:59 UTC. All monetary metrics are displayed in USD. Countries include the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, France, Ireland, Spain, and New Zealand.”