Demonstrating exemplary growth during “Black Friday” week 2018, the VTEX platform identified an increase of 71% over last year’s numbers in total sales. These sales were on behalf of the 1.7+ million orders from VTEX’s nearly 2,500 clients across 28 countries that occurred during this period. 
Each year, online consumers have been more eager to participate in shopping on Black Friday, which is seen as the apex of national retail offerings. The sales figures also show that consumers are consciously anticipating this specific date to purchase products with higher added value ahead of the Christmas season.
The most significant day of the sales was Friday, November 23rd, the official day of Black Friday, which saw more than 674,000 orders online. This is a 58% increase over last year’s numbers. The volume represents, as an average, more than 468 orders per minute with a peak of 633 in a single minute. Among the products most frequently purchased during this year’s Black Friday, 27% were appliances, 18% was attributed to fashion sales, and 15% occurred in cosmetics. The average number of conversions on Black Friday demonstrates the high growth and reach of the platform. At 2.3%, this is about 1.8 times over a traditional day, which corroborates VTEX’s efficiency during peak sales.
A major contributor to the increase in sales overall in global e-commerce is that online consumers and retailers are getting more prepared for “Black Friday” week shopping ahead of time. This demonstrates that companies are using strategies that go beyond mere discounts to engage consumers while optimizing margins and sales volume. 
The average ticket of stores operating with VTEX technology reached USD $144.00, which was higher than the annual average. This has been attributed to the robustness of the platform, along with the various technologies that work in conjunction with the platform to drive faster, more efficient sales, such as the SmartCheckout feature.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday 2018 overall proved to be exceptionally successful in terms of online sales for the retail industry as a whole, with all predictions and expectations completely surpassed.
Black Friday alone broke all previous records, making it clear that consumers are more inclined than ever before to stay home and take advantage of the deals available online. According to research from Adobe Analytics, $6.22 billion was the total number of sales from Black Friday, a 23.6% increase from the previous year. Thanks to the savvy strategizing of retailers who understand that creating better online and mobile shopping experiences leads to more sales, Black Friday 2018 achieved 10% more sales from mobile shopping than the previous year. 
A major contributing factor was that retailers were more engaged with their customers than ever before, offering a variety of options and channels for which to shop on, enabling more versatility and options than previous years. This tactic, as the numbers show, proved very successful. 
At the same time, brick and mortar sales saw a significant decrease in sales and actual foot traffic, as expected, as retailers cued into the possibilities of multichannel options. Brick and mortar retailers are finally realizing the benefit of embracing customer habits, as they presented a greater abundance of online sales. Evidence has shown over the years that customers are less inclined to deal with the hectic chaos of in-store deals, and sales strategies for online selling are now starting on Thanksgiving, which gives consumers greater flexibility of when they can take advantage of the deals. As a result, Thanksgiving is now becoming the fastest growing day for online shopping, thanks to the number of retailers offering prices as low as can be expected on Black Friday. 
Additionally, while the final numbers have not been presented as of yet, Cyber Monday 2018 is anticipated to have garnered record numbers of sales as well, with predictions currently at approximately $7.8 billion.
DISCLAIMER: It is important to note that historical financial information or operational KPIs may not be comparable with publicly filed information at SEC, since VTEX did not report its financials in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) prior to 2019 and certain KPIs definitions may differ from publicly filed information. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on figures published before July 21st, 2021 as they may not be comparable to the metrics disclosed on the IPO onwards.
The CCX Company, in collaboration with VTEX Commerce Cloud, expresses gratitude for having had the opportunity to enhance its understanding of the advantages, trends, and other elements addressed in the current topic. This article was jointly developed and is brought to you by the VTEX Commerce Cloud team.
