Black Friday Trends Of CEE Online Exporters: Bolder Advertising Behaviour And A Longer Peak Period

Together with Christmas, Black Friday is one of the main shopping peaks of the year. Many regional ecommerce players may have been conservative about boosting the Black Friday advertising at first, but the trend is clear: CEE exporters are spending up to 33% more, both in Google Ads and CPC, benefitting from the hype. 

Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are rather new concepts in the CEE region, but both shopping events have quickly become popular. In 2020, we’ve witnessed record growth due to a second lockdown across many European countries.

In 2021, the trend continues as shopping online has become the new normal to many. End consumers across segments continue to opt for online shopping even if restrictions are looser and brick and mortar stores remain open. This will likely set the tone for the next few years. How does that translate in digital marketing for ecommerce export?

CEE exporters less afraid to spend the big bucks on Black Friday advertising 

Growing trend of marketing expenditures has been visible since September. Record-breaking numbers, both in Google Ads and CPC spends, are shown in the last week of November when both Black Friday and Cyber Monday take place. In the CEE alone, performance marketing expenditures have grown by 33% YoY in 2021.

Chart contains real-time data from more than 240 CEE online stores

“Although customers are buying more throughout the year due to behavioural changes caused by the pandemic, Christmas season is still the main season for ecommerce and the YoY growth is still around 20%,” Laszló Szabó, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Growww Digital says. According to Heureka Group, in the Czech Republic alone, the Black Friday (26 November) has been the strongest ecommerce day of 2021 yet. 

In Romania, Black Friday often means way greater peak than Christmas itself, the Google Ads weekly cost change was off the roof from the beginning of November – that is because Black Friday is set for earlier than most of CEE (12 November):

Lower mobility directly translates into higher ecommerce sales 

In 2020, Czech online shoppers spent nearly €2.7bn during the main months of the Christmas season (November and December). In Growww Digital, we see that this number grew by approx. 20% in 2021.

Google and Facebook data actually show lower mobility from as early as 1 August. “This could be caused by lockdowns, quarantines or other anti-covid restrictions leaving people to stay at home. The 2021 mobility is however higher than in 2020 when restrictions were absolute. This shows the number of online shoppers have significantly grown in the past year and a half,” Szabó further explains.

Mobility in Czechia (2020-2021, Facebook and Google data) 

Benefit from real-time trends in your marketing campaigns with these two tools: 

Do you want to keep up to date with current digital marketing trends regarding Black Friday, other major holidays across CEE, or simply be one of the very early adopters anytime a new trend unfolds? Our Covid dashboard collects data from more than 5,000 ecommerce players across CEE, thus revealing real-time events an industry leader needs to know about. 

If you’re C-level or seasoned professional in CEE export reading this, you are also very welcome to join our Facebook Mastermind for fellow exporters for more insider knowledge and exchange.