Black Friday/Cyber Monday by the numbers: Exclusive data insights from Loop
Vaishali Ravi
·January 17, 2025
Want to know what happens behind the scenes to power the most successful Cyber Week campaigns?
The shopping period known as Cyber Week, or Black Friday - Cyber Monday (BFCM), runs from Thanksgiving through to the following Monday, and for most retailers, particularly in the U.S., it represents an overwhelming portion of their sales.
This year’s BFCM was a record-breaking event: Cyber Monday sales across all U.S. online merchants increased 7.3% year over year to $13.3 billion, and total Cyber Week sales totalled $41.1 billion, up 8.2% from 2023 records, according to the National Retail Federation.
Here at Loop, as a leading vendor for more than 4,000 merchants who ran BFCM sales in 2024, we’ve gained access to unique insights around BFCM sales data. Shoppers placed more than 13 million orders with our merchants over Cyber Week, leading to a combined total of $1.62 billion in sales. In fact, our merchants made up an estimated 14% of total sales volume on Shopify, the U.S.’ largest ecommerce platform.
In this report, you’ll have the chance to explore our proprietary data around BFCM sales metrics, merchant behavior, and returns management. Our report encompasses data from U.S., U.K., and Australian/New Zealand merchants, so you can gain access to a country-by-country comparison to determine whether you’re on par with your competitors.
Now, let’s dig into the data.
BFCM by the numbers
Loop’s been collecting data on BFCM sales and returns from our merchant customer base for three years, across more than 4,000 ecommerce businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Australia/New Zealand. By tracking year-over-year data insights, you’ll be able to analyze granular trends in performance across each year from 2022 to the present day.
BFCM 2024 global stats
BFCM 2024 was one for the books. Read on to see the global stats for this record-breaking Cyber Week, followed by a comparison of 2023 and 2022 benchmarks.
- Total Loop Merchants: 4,044
- Total orders from Loop merchants 2024: 13.1 million
- Total value (USD) of orders: $1.62 billion
- Average Order Value: $123
- Loop merchant sales represent 14% of total sales volume on Shopify
BFCM 2024 vs BFCM 2023
- # of Same-Shops: 3,304
- Shopify Order Volume: 11.7M (⬆ 11.6%)
- GMV ($): 1.47B (⬆ 15.7%)
- AOV ($): $125 (⬆ 3.7%)
BFCM 2023 vs BFCM 2022
- # of Same-Shops: 2,436
- Shopify Order Volume: 9.1M (⬆ 16.8%)
- GMV ($): 1.1B (⬆ 20.1%)
- AOV ($): $122 (⬆ 2.9%)
BFCM around the world
We serve customers in three distinct regions: The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia/New Zealand. As such, we’re able to see key regional variations in BFCM sales performance.
United States
In the U.S., consumer sentiment has reached its highest point since the start of the pandemic, with 47% feeling optimistic about the state of the national economy. That optimism is reflected in 2024 shopping behavior, with increased spending from the previous year.
- Total Loop Merchants: 3,153
- Total orders from Loop merchants 2024: 11.5M
- Total value (USD) of orders: $1.44B
- Average Order Value: $126
U.S. YoY changes from 2023
- # of Same-Shops: 2,599
- Shopify Order Volume: 10.4M (⬆ 12%)
- GMV ($): $1.32B (⬆ 16.5%)
- AOV ($): $128 (⬆ 4%)
United Kingdom
In contrast, British shoppers were more cautious around spending, with just 16% of U.K. consumers feeling confident about the state of the national economy. Even so, we saw a record increase in average order value for our UK merchants.
- Total Loop Merchants: 146
- Total orders from Loop merchants 2024: 258.45K
- Total value (USD) of orders: £23.5M ($29.4M USD)
- Average Order Value: £91 ($113.94 USD)
U.K. YoY changes from 2023:
- # of Same-Shops: 103
- Shopify Order Volume: 193.4K (⬆ 3.84%)
- GMV (£): $21M USD (⬆ 18.5%)
- AOV ($): $107 USD (⬆ 14.1%)
Key stat: 14% increase in AOV
- Despite an overall lower AOV than in other regions studied, AOV for UK merchants increased far more than the baseline, with a 14% increase for our UK merchants compared to a 4% increase when looking at Loop merchants overall.
Australia/New Zealand (AUNZ)
A June 2024 Shopify study found that most Australian shoppers are growing more price-conscious, with 79% cutting back on their discretionary spending in response to cost of living increases. As we see, Australian and New Zealand shoppers are spending less on average order value this year, even as the total order volume increases.
- Total Loop Merchants: 422
- Total orders from Loop merchants 2024: 741K
- Total value (USD) of orders: $106M AUD ($65.6M USD)
- Average Order Value: $143 AUD ($88.49 USD)
AUS/NZ YoY changes from 2023:
- # of Same-Shops: 331
- Shopify Order Volume: 568.8K (⬆️ 11.6%)
- GMV ($): 51M USD (⬆️ 9.7%)
- AOV ($): $97M USD (⬇️ -1.7%)
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Schedule timeVertical trends
In addition to regional differences, we can also analyze trends based on store categories. Here are some of the most significant differences we observed on a vertical level:
- Nearly every vertical saw an increase in order count YoY, except for Swimwear, which saw flat growth YoY (~1% difference).
- Nearly every vertical saw an increase in GMV ($) sales YoY, except for Electronics, which saw a ~7% decrease in total sales value.
- Jewelry saw the largest jump in both order count and GMV ($) YoY, with 33% and 39% increases respectively.
- Apparel made up ~50% of total Loop merchant sales both last year and this year, and saw the second-highest YoY GMV growth with a 19% increase from 2023.
Shopper behavior and engagement
When looking at the data, it’s important to pay attention to the customer journey to discover the difference in behavior between new and returning shoppers. Here’s what we found:
GMV Growth YoY:
- Returning Shoppers: +19.5%
- New Shoppers: +13.4%
AOV YoY:
- Returning Shoppers: +4.7%
- New Shoppers: +3.2%
Order Volume YoY:
- Returning Shoppers: +14.1%
- New Shoppers: +9.9%
Both GMV and Average Order Value (AOV) grew more YoY for Returning Shoppers than New Shoppers. Returning shoppers (understandably) have more trust with merchants after successful purchase experiences, and feel comfortable coming back and spending more on their orders.
Stay tuned to our blog for more data insights from the post-holiday returns period, plus our best practices for optimizing your success with future BFCMs and other peak sales events.
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