What to expect from Black Friday 2021

I know what you’re thinking, it can’t possibly be that time again. But yes, yes it is, Black Friday once again has come around quicker than Usain Bolt on a running track. After the year we’ve had with the Covid-19 pandemic, Black Friday is set to look slightly different again this year. 

When is Black Friday? 

Set your alarm clocks, whip it in your Google calendars, and have your bargain-head on for 26th November 2021. This is officially Black Friday, but it’s important to remember that most companies now start their sales earlier, some even lasting for the whole month. E-commerce giant Amazon has already started revealing some of its top discounts a month in advance, getting customers excited ahead of time which has proven to be one of the most successful marketing tactics for Black Friday in recent years.

What is Cyber Monday?

No, it’s not a day where Will Smith’s I, Robot film comes to life, although the name might suggest such. It is instead a day for you to take advantage of the best tech deals on the market. Forget Black Friday, it might be worth you waiting until what is now dubbed “Cyber Monday” when prices are slashed up to 80%. This is an online sale that comes on the first Monday after Black Friday, where some of the biggest technology companies in the world getting involved. Thinking of finally treating yourself to an iPhone? Wait until Cyber Monday! 

What to expect for the big day in 2021

With more high street shops than ever before having closed down in the past year, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, to name just a few from the UK, Black Friday is set to be an online extravaganza with online traffic estimated to peak for the year on that day.

“This year, we predict that online Black Friday sales (combined Black Friday and Thanksgiving spending) will grow about 20% year over year and hit $17 billion in the US.”

blackfriday.com

It’s an interesting estimate from blackfriday.com for the Thursday and Friday of that week alone after Adobe offered these stats from “Cyber Week” 2020.

“Data from Adobe, which uses Adobe Analytics to analyze one trillion visits and 100 million SKUs from 80 of the 100 largest retailers in the U.S., found that consumers spent a whopping $34.4 billion during this year’s Cyber Week, which represents a 20.7 percent year-over-year (YoY) increase. Unsurprisingly, Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday represented the bulk of total spend over the five-day period.”

Adobe blog

If last year is anything to go by, when we were in the midst of the pandemic, most websites will have to set up a “queue” like system for their website because of the extreme levels of traffic they get compared to the average day. Some websites even went down (and it happens to the best of us!), because of server issues, and a variety of other typical downtime causes. Luckily, we are on hand for all website-owners Black Friday website needs here at StatusCake, and we might even have a couple of Black Friday offers ourselves…

Why Black Friday is so important this year 

After another year of store closures on and off, lack of people leaving their homes, offices shut, and a whole host of awful circumstances for shops, Black Friday is now the event of the year, essentially the “saving grace” for companies that need to make money they’ve lost out on from in-store sales. Forget the Boxing Day sales, Black Friday is set to be the biggest revenue day by far and fingers crossed it helps to save more companies from going bust.

The good thing is, with travel restrictions in the UK now lifted, and the likes of the USA and Canada now allowing us Brits in, there’s set to be a huge surge in holiday websites offering discounts of up to 75% off. Did someone say sun and sangria? Yes, please. 

Online vs offline sales

Last year, Amazon reported $125.6 billion in revenue for Q4, a massive year-on-year increase showing that buying online has never been as popular as it is now. 

CNBC and Statista reported some key stats in the online vs highstreet Black Friday figures: 

Customers through the doors at high street stores in 2020 in the US on Black Friday dropped by 52.1% compared to the previous year 

The estimated spend for online users in the UK on Black Friday, Cyber Weekend, and Cyber Monday were all nearly 3 times the amount for offline users. 

The result? Black Friday is growing increasingly popular, especially since people have tighter budgets with the lead-up to Christmas, and this year is predicted to outdo all previous years. Are you ready?