Amazon and TikTok Shop prove shoppers really *do* want deals [MDSR #37]

Hot Off The Presses 📰

Well, well, well. This year’s Black Friday Cyber Monday turned out to be one for the books after all, at least online. In-store traffic fell 8.2% compared to last year, but eCom sales soared almost 15% with Cyber Monday spending breaking $13 billion — and it may or may not owe it all to the widespread availability of Buy Now Pay Later options. 

Plus Gen Z, and their appetite for credit card debt.

Compelling numbers across the industry make for an interesting roster of winning and losing retailers heading into the holidays. While those who focus on consumers’ wants instead of needs (think: Best Buy, Target, Macy’s) continue to struggle, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Target stand out as the big winners of this year’s Cyber Five sales — and there’s a clear takeaway:

Consumers are looking for value, and they’re finding it with retailers who offer steep and plentiful discounts.

Even in the face of more legal hot water over prime delivery neighborhood access and workers planning global protests during BFCM shopping weekend for the 5th year in a row, Amazon wants you to know that this year was their biggest Thanksgiving shopping event ever — exact results remain to be seen. 

As far as concrete numbers for BFCM 2024? Shopify merchants drove a record-high $11.5 billion this year, while TikTok Shop generated $100 million in US sales — with users tuning into 30,000 shopping livestreams — over the course of Black Friday.   

In the background, Shein and Temu’s Black Friday ad bidding wars spiked marketing costs for the rest of us — for little to no pay off, if Amazon Ad economics are any indication: Amazon Ad spend jumped 30% while CTR declined 7% compared to last year’s BFCM. 

So, the increased investment in ads doesn’t necessarily translate to better performance — but that could explain why global ad revenue is now expected to top $1 trillion by the end of this year. 

All of that said, the holiday shopping rush isn’t over until it’s over — and we’re not even talking about “the invisible quarter” of Q5, where brands can create valuable momentum off the 40% of consumers who seek post holiday deals. 

With five fewer shopping days between Turkey Day and Christmas, some DTC brands are promoting their Amazon storefronts to entice customers with faster holiday shipping. Meanwhile, Amazon sellers are flocking to TikTok Shop despite the looming US ban for the promise of discounts footed by the platform and lower fees.

Speaking of fees, Amazon’s decision to not hike up the cost of FBA is expected to generate a $2 billion headwind — but the other fee updates in store for 2025 mean it still behooves sellers to revisit their supply chain strategies before the changes take effect in Q1.  

Godspeed, and good luck out there 🎅

Million Dollar Advice 💸 

If you’re tracking and monitoring basic KPIs for your eCom business, you probably think you have enough information at your fingertips to make data-driven decisions.

But that’s only half the battle.

Take it from Krishna Poda — there’s no shortage of ways that AI-automated data analysis can transform decision-making for your business to get you acting on the most important insights even faster.

Trends and takeaways from a strong Cyber Five 📌

According to a new analysis from eMarketer, it may be for good reason that Cyber Monday crushed records as the biggest online shopping day in American history: Shoppers snapped up deep discounts and shelled out on big-ticket items, most likely in an effort to buy before Trump’s proposed tariffs potentially cause prices to soar. 

The Highlights:

• Cyber Monday Sets the Bar: US online shoppers spent a record $13.3 billion—a 7.3% increase YoY—making it the biggest online shopping day in US history.

• Peak Spending: Consumers shelled out $15.8 million every minute between 8-10 PM EST during Cyber Monday's peak hours.

• Cyber Five Total: $41.1 billion spent online over the holiday weekend, up 8.2% YoY.

  • Black Friday: $10.8 billion (up 10.2%)

  • Thanksgiving: $6.1 billion (up 8.8%)

Key Shopping Trends:

• Pre-Tariff Frenzy: Anticipation of price hikes from looming tariffs drove demand for big-ticket items like electronics (+86% sales growth), appliances (+59%), and sporting goods (+63%).

• Influencer Power: TikTok influencers helped drive a 6.8% YoY increase in influencer-driven retail revenue, reaching 20.3% of Cyber Monday sales.

• Marketing Saturation: Retailers bombarded shoppers with 8% more emails and 17% more mobile messages—making it harder to stand out.

• Bigger Discounts: Average Cyber Monday discount rose to 28%—with electronics offering 30.1% off, toys 26.1%, and apparel 23.2%.

• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): Consumers embraced BNPL with $991.2 million spent, up 5.5% YoY.

eMarketer Says:

Shoppers are spending big and strategizing ahead of potential price hikes. Expect holiday sales to grow 4.3% this year, with ecommerce sales jumping 9.0%.

Read the full article here. 

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Until next time ✌️

As always, thanks for sticking with us until the end. 

If you’d care to share your thoughts on this newsletter, we’re all ears. Just hit reply to sound off. 

See you next time with more of the latest and greatest content you need to succeed this year 🔥

Sincerely, 

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*To qualify, you must be a full-time seller or brand owner and do at least 1 million in verified annual revenue. Will Amazon’s Returnless Resolutions solve the returns debacle? [MDSR #30]