Black Friday spending was forecast to be the higher in the United Kingdom (UK) than any other European nation in 2020, although total figures are expected crash in 2020 due to the impact of coronavirus restrictions and lockdown measures in place in many European countries. Following the UK, the second biggest Black Friday spender was Germany, where Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday sales value reached 6.1 billion in 2018 and 6.3 billion British pounds in 2019. In 2020, Germany is predicted to spend around 6 percent less during Black Friday weekend.

The most popular retail event of the holiday season

Black Friday might be an American shopping phenomenon by origin, but European consumers have adopted it with similar degrees of zealotry. Across the EMEA region, Black Friday stood out among other special retail events during the holiday season in 2018. The number of daily retail transactions that took place on this day put Black Friday ahead of more traditional holiday season discount opportunities such as Christmas and Boxing Day sales. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most purchased products on Black Friday were in the tech category.

Millions of Black Friday transactions on Amazon

Black Friday is simultaneously a challenge and an opportunity for retailers, be it brick-and-mortar or online. One retailer that springs to mind immediately on this day is Amazon. In the UK, the total number of transactions made during 2018 Black Friday on Amazon’s UK platform saw a 30 percent increase from about two weeks before. On Black Friday’s twin event, Cyber Monday, the total number of transactions was just shy of four million.

In 2024, online retail sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday amounted to two billion euros in Italy. In 2024, online sales are expected to be worth 2.1 billion euros.

Sales during Cyber Monday in Brazil increased 17.1 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year's edition, generating revenues of about 1.47 billion Brazilian reals. In 2024, the South American country was home to an estimated 134 million e-commerce users.

Expected to reach 12 billion U.S. dollars, Cyber Monday is the shopping day with the highest e-commerce sales revenue in the United States in 2023. Black Friday ranks second, with over nine billion dollars in online revenue according to the latest forecasts.

During the 2024 holiday season, projected online sales during Cyber Five, the five-day period over the Thanksgiving Weekend, are set to reach over 39 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. This would be a two billion dollar increase from the previous year.

Compared to sales that took place in the preceding eight weeks, retail sales during Black Friday grew by varying degrees in the United Kingdom in 2020. On Black Friday, the highest increase was observed in the apparel and accessories category, with a sales increase of 378 percent. Cyber Monday, which immediately follows holiday season’s most anticipated retail event, led to increased activity as well.

UK: where the biggest Black Friday happens In Europe, Black Friday stimulates the highest sales in the United Kingdom. In 2020, the total value of sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday amounted to 7.5 billion British pounds. Online purchases made up the majority of the projected value of Black Friday and Cyber Weekend sales in the UK.

Black Friday 2021: what are UK consumers buying?
In 2021, consumers in the older age brackets were preparing to allocate higher budgets for their Black Friday purchases, over 300 British pounds each. In comparison, Gen Z and millennials were not planning to splash their money on Black Friday purchases. London was projected to be the region where consumers were intending to spend the highest amount during this retail event.

This statistic presents the share of mobile online consumer spending at Chinese online retailers on Singles Day 2016 compared with the share of U.S. mobile consumer spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday of the same year. It was found that whereas the overall mobile sales share of Cyber Monday sales in the United States amounted to 35 percent, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba generated 82 percent of all Singles Day sales via mobile. Both Cyber Monday and Singles Day are the biggest online retailing days in their respective home markets.

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday are becoming global shopping phenomena, sales transactions made on these days are seeing surges across European countries as well. In 2018, on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Switzerland saw a significant rise in retail sales, with Black Friday retail sales experiencing a growth of 277 percent and Cyber Monday catching up with 104 percent.

On average, nearly nine out of ten consumers in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico in November 2021 stated that they knew what Black Friday is. Awareness was lower for Cyber Monday, with nearly two-thirds of respondents in these three Latin American countries saying they had heard of the event. In Brazil, all participants said they had heard of Black Friday, while, in Colombia, more than three-quarters (78 percent) reported being familiar with Cyber Monday.

According to a survey conducted in October 2024, Generation X Australians intended to spend on average 500 Australian dollars per person during the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Per person spending on the post-Thanksgiving sales was lowest among Baby Boomers at an intended average spend of 438 Australian dollars per person.

In the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period in Australia, around 75 percent of Generation Z indicated in a survey that they would be making purchases during the holiday sales period. Baby Boomers showed a much lower intention to participate, with just around 15 percent of the Baby Boomer respondents indicating they would participate in the sales.

Sales on Cyber Monday in Poland in 2024 increased by 73 percent compared to November and the first days of December.

Before Cyber Monday in 2024, over 20 percent of Brazilian survey respondents said they were very likely to make a purchase during the e-commerce sales event. E-commerce sales generated revenues of about 1.47 billion Brazilian reals during Cyber Monday in 2024.

For 2024's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales event, also known as the 'Cyber Week', approximately 77 percent of shoppers in the United States that planned to visit online retailers during Cyber Week specifically intended to buy clothing and accessories, making it the most popular product category. Just over 70 percent of respondents also planned to buy electronics.

Among the surveyed shoppers in the United States between 18 and 34 years old, social media was the most likely channel to create awareness on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2024. For 48 percent of shoppers from 35 years old, online shopping websites were the main channel to notice mega event sales. Mega-sale events were equally likely to be noticed by consumers in both age groups.

During the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, better known in the U.S. as Cyber Five, Etsy was the top-earning online retailer with a 115 percent growth over the previous year. Second place went to e-commerce giant Amazon, whose sales grew by 30 percent.

In a survey conducted in October 2024 regarding Australian consumer shopping habits during the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, over 60 percent of respondents indicated that they would be purchasing clothes or shoes in the holiday sales period. Electronics and gadgets were the next most popular purchase options, with just over 40 percent of respondents indicating that they would be buying items in that category.

The nominal change in sales revenue generated by online shopping on Cyber Monday in Brazil has dropped lately. The date always falls on the Monday right after Black Friday, that is the last Friday of November. In 2019, online retail sales increased by 11 percent compared to the previous Cyber Monday, down from a growth rate of over 20 percent recorded in 2018. Likewise, the average sales value per checkout in online shopping on Cyber Monday in Brazil has declined recently.

In 2024, it has been forecast that online shoppers in Germany will spend 5.9 billion euros around the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. This is unchanged compared to the previous year.

Before Cyber Monday in 2024, almost a quarter of Mexican survey respondents said they were very likely to make a purchase during the e-commerce sales event. During Black Friday of the same year, 42 percent of Mexicans were very likely to purchase something.