Cyber Week 2022: The stats behind the year’s biggest shopping week

This year’s Cyber Week has been like no other, with record-breaking online sales despite economic headwinds.

We analyzed retailers’ Cyber Week email and messaging communications to bring you a snapshot of the behind-the-scenes of the year’s biggest shopping week, along with strategies that will help you build a rock-solid customer engagement strategy.

Despite consumers tightening their wallets in response to economic uncertainty, statistics for this year’s holiday shopping are defying all the forecasts.

Why? Consumers are always on the lookout for a great deal and the increased activity across digital channels in 2022 meant people would grab their phones and computers at dinner tables and everywhere else — which in turn means more sales.

As a global leader in customer communications, Sinch not only had an up-close view of interactions between retailers and consumers, we also made them happen — and here’s what we’ve learned:

• The build-up to Black Friday seems to start earlier every year, with SMS traffic between retailers and customers up 30% for the period from November 22 through November 29 against recent weeks
• The SMS send during Cyber Week doubled in over 50 countries
• More than 400 million messages were sent on Black Friday via Sinch’s global super network — that’s 4,630 messages every second of the day!
• The week-on-week email send by retailers increased by double digits for Cyber Week and for Black Friday and Cyber Monday themselves
• Cyber Week volumes through conversational messaging channels such as WhatsApp and Kakaotalk increased by more than 560% compared to the previous week
• Many brands used both SMS messaging and email to engage with consumers across their journey

The lesson? Good old SMS and email not only still have a place, they’re where it’s at — and the most important thing retailers can do to drive sustainable growth in a digital world is meeting customers on the channels that suit them.

Delivering real-time, personalized digital experiences that guide customers on their path to purchase — and doing so on the right channels — will remain the number one challenge and opportunity for retailers in 2023 and beyond.

To reach more customers, take a minute to think about your own digital behavior. How many channels do you usually use in a day? For most people, the answer is “many.” So, why should your customer journey sit on a single channel?

While SMS and email will always be a safe bet for Cyber Week, rich messaging channels like RCS and WhatsApp are gaining ground and retailers need to take notice. Using richer, interactive content like images, videos, or GIFs is a powerful way to stand out and boost your conversion rates.

And of course, despite the rise of messaging channels, people still want to talk to people when the situation requires it — which means voice isn’t going anywhere.

Here are a few things you should consider when laying the foundation for your omnichannel customer engagement strategy:

• Think about the uses of each channel

SMS provides immediacy — an ideal application for one-time passwords and flash sales, for instance. Email won’t give you that instant reach but remains the most widely used communication channel for brands and retailers.

• Deliverability is everything

Planning is critical, but so is ensuring your communications get delivered on time and to the right person.

• Consider local preferences

Usage and behaviors may vary from one country to another. For instance, WhatsApp is the go-to choice in Latin America, but not in the U.S. Keeping this in mind will help you reach consumers where they are.

• Get to know your consumers

Figure out what your customers expect and how you can deliver on it — or better, over-deliver!

• Be consistent

Just because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the year’s biggest highlight doesn’t mean you should bet everything on those two days.

• Work with a trusted customer communications partner

Customer communication is make-or-break for any retailer during Black Friday and Cyber Week, and you need a partner who gets it.One that can ensure your messages get delivered, your emails reach customer inboxes, and your calls are connected with the best voice quality, consistently, reliably, and securely.

Follow these key principles and you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful omnichannel customer engagement strategy — for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or any other day.

Sinch helps thousands of retailers around the world scale personalized communication at scale to engage consumers across their entire customer journey, on all their favorite channels.

“During this season and really every day of the year, consumers are seeking personalized communications from brands which understand them and their needs,” said Jonathan Bean, Chief Marketing Officer, Sinch. “For businesses, there is no margin for error. Yet again, Sinch’s super network proved to be the most direct, secure and reliable tier-1 network for messaging, voice, and email, with the highest deliverability rates.”

Want to learn more about how we help retailers build meaningful connections with their customers? Explore our solutions for retail.