• DE&I Commitment
  • Careers
  • SIGN IN
  • Book a Meeting
    Book a Meeting
  • Company
    Learn a little more about us, our values, and our team
    Our Values
    We don't just talk the talk; we live by our core values
    About Us
    Empowering brands to realize their potential with data, insights, and technology
    Leadership
    Meet our leadership team
    Secure Data Architecture
    Our promise of data security and privacy. We keep your data safe from publishers, competitors and bad actors
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    We are committed to making a positive impact on our communities and our planet
  • Platform
    Plan, manage, optimize, and measure your campaigns with our omnichannel platform
    Omnichannel Advertising
    A platform that connects all walled garden media for more effective campaigns
    Data Connectivity
    Make data-driven decisions as you plan and strategize
    Product Capabilities
    Take your campaigns to the next level by enhancing your platform capabilities
    See the industries we serve
    Learn how our customizable solutions can help with your unique needs
    Explore our partner integrations
    See the media, retailer, and data partners we work with
  • Case Studies
  • News and Events
    Check out recent announcements and see what we’re up to
    Newsroom
    Check out our recent media mentions and announcements
    Events
    Join us for our next conference or webinar
    Omnichannel platform launch
    Read the press release to see how we're helping marketers win the walled gardens
    Cannes Lions 2023
    Don't miss your chance to meet with Skai leadership in Cannes
  • Resources
    From new releases, to industry trends and best practices, Skai has you covered
    Marketer Insights
    Read the latest blog posts and thought leadership from Skai and other industry experts
    Skai Research
    Explore our studies, reports and whitepapers so you can keep up on the latest industry trends
    The State of Retail Media 2023
    Learn how industry experts are approaching retail media
    The Breakthrough
    The only resource hub built for marketers in the new era of omnichannel
Back to Blog

Retailer Advertisers Triple-Down on Black Friday

Chris "Coz" Costello, Senior Director of Marketing Research @ Skai™

December  02, 2019
  • Over 3X retail digital ad spending on Black Friday 2019 versus the daily pre-Thanksgiving November average 
  • The data signals that retailers have fully embraced the relatively new ecommerce advertising channel
  • Brands heavily relied on social advertising to drive awareness and interest in their holiday promotions leading up to the big weekend
black friday 2019

More than 3X retail digital advertising spending on Black Friday across the board

Normally, Thanksgiving falls around November 22nd, which provides potential customers with plenty of time to shop before Christmas, but this year’s late Thanksgiving shortened the shopping days before Christmas to just 26.

Historically, Q4 consumer spending isn’t affected by a short holiday season, but the abbreviated timeline meant that retail marketers would need to place bigger bets on key dates. 

Black Friday 2019 experienced more than triple the average daily advertising spending versus pre-Thanksgiving November across ecommerce advertising (+218% or 3.2x), social product ads (+218% or 3.2x) and search shopping ads (+248% or 3.5x).

Strong Black Friday ecommerce advertising signals channel maturation

Ecommerce channel advertising (ECA)—primarily led by Amazon Advertising—has been one of the fastest-growing ad channels. The primary benefit for marketers using ECA is reaching consumers at the very bottom of the funnel with highly targeted ads as they shop in online marketplaces. 

Retailers have been quick to recognize the ECA opportunity—with Amazon specifically growing faster than any other major ad publisher. In 2017, marketers were still testing the channel, but 2018 showed triple-digit growth as these brands launched sophisticated ECA programs with fully-funded investments. With more major retailers set to launch their ecommerce advertising programs in the near future, the long-term outlook for this channel is strong.

2018’s impressive year-over-year ECA growth demonstrated that retail brands were still ramping up on the channel, while 2019’s double-digit growth on Thanksgiving is more reflective of a mature ad channel rather than a nascent one.

  • Spending on Thanksgiving increased 20% on a same-advertiser basis
  • Spending on Black Friday increased 30% on a same-advertiser basis

As a result of this increased advertiser attention, ecommerce channel advertising costs went up due to more competition in the market. CPC was up 10% on Thanksgiving in the channel compared to the rest of November and up 29% on Black Friday.

Advertisers heavily relied on social advertising to drive pre-Black Friday awareness and interest

One trend to watch going into the holiday season was whether or not advertisers adapted to fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas by “heavying up” on ad spending before sitting down for turkey. As it turns out, only social product advertising spend fit that pattern, ending up 26% higher in 2019 versus 2018 based on the pre-Thanksgiving November daily average. No such trend emerged for either ecommerce channel ads or search shopping campaigns. 

This finding emphasizes social advertising’s ability to stimulate demand, particularly in advance of the increased purchase intent of the long holiday shopping weekend. While search advertising and ECA are strong bottom-funnel tactics, to reach consumers, they either require shoppers to actively research keywords on a search engine or visit an online marketplace. 

Social advertising, however, can be pushed to people who are less engaged in product research. This, combined with its unparalleled consumer data, engaging ad formats, and massive scale make it a valuable top- and mid-funnel opportunity to drive interest and awareness before key holiday dates. 

It is also why more than half of the $57 billion spent on programmatic digital display advertising this year will go to social ads. 

Methodology

The advertising performance data used for this analysis was comprised of Skai advertiser clients. The analysis is based on performance data on the Skai platform for accounts with continuous daily spending throughout the relevant holiday seasons. Search and social data takes into account advertisers categorized as retail/ecommerce only.

As part of the dataset used for this analysis:

  • Advertiser campaigns across search, social and ecommerce advertising generated nearly 2 billion impressions per minute across Thanksgiving and Black Friday 2019
  • Over half a billion dollars in advertiser spending in November 2019
  • Over $50M in spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday alone at a rate of over $1 million per hour

Book a Meeting of Skai

Related Posts

  • One smartphone displaying ads for Cottonelle Fresh Care wipes in the search bar on Google, with buy on Amazon at the bottom of the search result; the second smartphone displaying the same product on Amazon to purchase.
    Amazon Attribution is the Key to Using Search & Social to Supercharge Amazon Sales
    Read More
  • The Annual Skai Hackathon Fosters Team-Building and Innovation
    Read More
  • [WATCH] Reinvent Your Marketing Strategy for the Next Normal
    Read More
  • Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – May 2021
    Read More
  • How Skai Takes the Growing Pains Out of the Client Onboarding Process
    Read More
  • Black Friday 2020: Online Ad Spending Up 2-3X Offsets the In-Store Drop
    Read More
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
  • Copy Link
    Copied!
Tags: Amazon, Apps, Data & Insights, Ecommerce, Facebook, Google, Holiday, Local, Plan, Retail Media, Search, Social, Target, xTLx

    Subscribe to Updates

    Media that matters.
    Marketing that works.
    © 2023 Kenshoo, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
    Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Recruitment Privacy Policy.
    • Connected Strategy
      • Dynamic Marketing Mix
      • Budget Forecasting
      • Strategic Consulting
    • Connected Media
      • Overview
      • Retail Media
      • Paid Search
      • Paid Social
      • App Marketing
      • Auditing
      • Expert Services
    • Measurement
      • Incrementality
      • Experiments
      • Cross-Channel Attribution
    • Resources
      • Blog
      • Glossary
      • Case Studies
      • Training & Enablement
      • Developer Hub
      • The Breakthrough
    Privacy Preference

    We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

    Privacy Preference

    Save All

    Save

    Accept Only Essential Cookies

    Manage Cookie Preferences

    Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

    Privacy Preference

    Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

    Save All Save Accept Only Essential Cookies

    Back

    Privacy Preference

    Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website, Imprint
    PurposeSaves the visitors preferences selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
    Host(s).skai.io, skai.io
    Cookie Nameborlabs-cookie
    Cookie Expiry1 Year
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    PurposeThis cookie stores selections made by the user in the Accessibe tool in order to maintain those settings on future visits. These cookies help us make our website compliant with our obligations under US law.
    Privacy Policy https://accessibe.com/privacy-policy
    Cookie NameacsbState, acsbReset
    Cookie Expiryn/a
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s)skai.io
    Cookie Namewordpress_sec_,wordpress_test_cookie,wp-postpass_*, wordpresspass_*, wordpressuser_*
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year

    We use these cookies to enhance functionality and allow for personalisation, such as live chats, videos and the use of social media.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s).chilipiper.com, skai.chilipiper.com
    Cookie Namefs_uid, CHILI_PIPER_CLUSTER, guest-session, _sp_ses*, _sp_id*
    Cookie ExpirySession / 2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s).comeet.co, www.comeet.co
    Cookie Namevisid_incap_, nlbi_#######, incap_ses_, referrer22_00a, incap_ses_1364_2167377
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Host(s)skai.io
    Cookie NamemoduleFormPardotDownload
    Cookie Expiry30 days

    Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderGoogle Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
    PurposeCookie by Google used for website analytics. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
    Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
    Cookie Name_ga, _ga_*, _gat,_gat_*,_gid, GOOGLE_ABUSE_EXEMPTION, AEC, __Secure-ENID, SOCS, CONSENT
    Cookie ExpirySession / 2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderHotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, 5th Floor, Dragonara Road, Paceville St Julian's STJ 3141 Malta
    PurposeHotjar is an user behavior analytic tool by Hotjar Ltd.. We use Hotjar to understand how users interact with our website.
    Privacy Policy https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
    Host(s)*.hotjar.com
    Cookie Name_hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls, _hjDoneTestersWidgets, _hjIncludedInSample, _hjShownFeedbackMessage, _hjid, _hjRecordingLastActivity, hjTLDTest, _hjUserAttributesHash, _hjCachedUserAttributes, _hjLocalStorageTest, _hjptid, _hjSessionUser_2229986, _hjIncludedInPageviewSample, _hjIncludedInSessionSample, _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress, _hjFirstSeen
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year

    Marketing cookies are used by third-party advertisers or publishers to display personalized ads. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderLinkedin
    Cookie Namelidc, li_gc, lang, AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie, TDCPM, TDID, bscookie, ln_or
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderSkai
    Cookie Nameken_gclid
    Accept
    Name
    Provider6sense
    Cookie Name_gd_session, _an_uid, _gd_visitor, _gd_svisitor, 6suuid
    Cookie ExpirySession / 400 Days
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderPardot
    PurposeCookie name associated with services from marketing automation and lead generation platform Pardot. The visitor value is the visitor_id in your Pardot account. This cookie is set for visitors by the Pardot tracking code.
    Host(s).pardot.com, pi.pardot.com, skai.io
    Cookie Namepardot, visitor_id*, lpv*
    Cookie ExpirySession / 10 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderGoogle Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
    PurposeCookie by Google used for conversion tracking of Google Ads.
    Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
    Cookie NameIDE, 1P_JAR, NID, _gcl_au, OTZ, test_cookie
    Cookie ExpirySession / 400 Days
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOwner of this website
    Cookie NamePHPSESSID, sid, okto-autoposter-XXX, oktgid, oktsid, oktlogid-XXX, oktolead-XXX-Email, oktolead-XXX-Company, oktolead-XXX-FirstName, oktolead-XXX-LastName, oktolead-XXX-Phone, oktolead-XXX-Country, oktolead-XXX-Url, oktolead-XXX-State, oktolead-XXX-Comment, optout
    Cookie ExpirySession / 2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderMeta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
    PurposeCookie by Facebook used for website analytics, ad targeting, and ad measurement.
    Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies
    Cookie Name_fbp,act,c_user,datr,fr,tr,m_pixel_ration,pl,presence,sb,spin,wd,xs
    Cookie ExpirySession / 1 Year

    Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

    Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

    Accept
    Name
    ProviderWistia
    Host(s).wistia.com
    Cookie Namecb_anonymous_id, _sp_ses.2b40, _li_dcdm_c, __hssrc, _gcl_au, _clsk, hubspotutk, _sp_id.2b40, __hssc, __hstc, _uetsid, _uetvid, _gid, _ga, _ga_GQR109DZ3Y, _lc2, fpi, _ex-pricing-cta, _fbp, cb_group_id, cb_user_id, _clck
    Cookie ExpirySession / 400 Days
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderMeta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
    PurposeUsed to unblock Instagram content.
    Privacy Policy https://www.instagram.com/legal/privacy/
    Host(s).instagram.com
    Cookie Namepigeon_state
    Cookie ExpirySession
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderOpenstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
    PurposeUsed to unblock OpenStreetMap content.
    Privacy Policy https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
    Host(s).openstreetmap.org
    Cookie Name_osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
    Cookie Expiry1-10 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderTwitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland
    PurposeUsed to unblock Twitter content.
    Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
    Host(s).twimg.com, .twitter.com
    Cookie Name__widgetsettings, local_storage_support_test
    Cookie ExpiryUnlimited
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderVimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
    PurposeUsed to unblock Vimeo content.
    Privacy Policy https://vimeo.com/privacy
    Host(s)player.vimeo.com
    Cookie Namevuid
    Cookie Expiry2 Years
    Accept
    Name
    ProviderGoogle Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
    PurposeUsed to unblock YouTube content.
    Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en
    Host(s)google.com
    Cookie NameCONSENT
    Cookie Expiry6 Month

    Borlabs Cookie powered by Borlabs Cookie

    Privacy Policy Imprint