Sinch reveals insights on 2024 Black Friday shopping trends

Sinch has shared key highlights from the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping period, revealing significant insights into consumer communication preferences.

According to Sinch, Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to dominate as the largest shopping events globally, generating USD $118.2 billion in revenue for November 2024, with USD $10.8 billion attributed to Black Friday alone, as reported by Adobe. This period is critically important for digital customer communications as retailers engage consumers around their purchasing decisions.

Sinch surveyed 1,200 consumers regarding their communication preferences during Black Friday, which revealed a demand for personalised, omnichannel engagement from brands. The company analysed billions of messages sent through its Customer Communications Cloud during the shopping period to assess how brands fared in meeting these consumer expectations.

The company noted delivering 7.68 billion interactions across various channels such as SMS, MMS, RCS (Rich Communication Services), WhatsApp, and email. These interactions highlight the scalability and reliability of Sinch's Customer Communications Cloud during peak shopping times.

SMS remained a strong channel with 1.8 billion messages sent worldwide across Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The continued popularity of SMS is evident as it was used heavily for last-minute deals and promotional reminders.

Email communication also saw considerable growth, with Sinch reporting a 33% increase in email volumes on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared to the previous year. Sinch's BFCM Consumer Survey 2024 highlighted that 61.3% of consumers preferred email for promotional messaging, while 75.1% used it for transactional updates like order confirmations and shipping notifications.

Email engagement remained robust throughout this busy season, with open rates for Black Friday emails averaging 13%, increasing to 15% on Cyber Monday. These figures are on par with year-round performance, showcasing the effectiveness of strategic email campaigns.

RCS has emerged as a key player in digital customer engagement, experiencing a 111% growth during the shopping days compared to last year. This growth is attributed to RCS's ability to deliver a richer and more interactive messaging experience with features like branded messages and interactive elements. As a result, 51% of consumers showed interest in interactive holiday promotions through messaging apps. Sinch has enhanced its RCS capabilities to support brands in leveraging this channel effectively across both US and global markets.

Sean O'Neal, Chief Product Officer at Sinch, commented: "This year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events underscored the vital role of timely, reliable, and high-throughput communication in delivering exceptional digital customer experiences. Sinch's Customer Communications Cloud, backed by enterprise-grade infrastructure, and robust suite of messaging, email, and voice solutions, ensured seamless message delivery with zero downtime. This enabled brands to exceed consumer expectations and perform at their best during the year's busiest and most high-stakes shopping days of the year."

Brands utilising Sinch's omnichannel strategies are effectively meeting the demands of consumers, allowing them to stand out in the competitive holiday market. The integration across SMS, RCS, and WhatsApp ensures businesses maximise engagement and build consumer trust and satisfaction.