New research: Festive Shoppers 5x as Likely to Click on Retailers’ Product Recommendations and 81% More Likely to Click on Personalized Content This Year

Shoppers browse 22% more pages per visit, lingering 10% longer on each page as retailers’ product discovery campaigns contribute to a 4.10% hike in average order value and a 4.41% uptick in sales

New research suggests festive online shoppers are taking longer to make purchase decisions this year, including interacting more heavily with retailers’ personalized product recommendations and content. Global data gathered by Commerce Experience Platform, Nosto, over Cyber Weekend 2023 found that ecommerce traffic was up 23%, with shoppers viewing 22% more pages per visit and spending 10% longer on each page. Despite this more considered shopping behavior, sales were up 4.41% year-over-year (YoY), with the average order value (AOV) rising by 4.10%. 

According to the data, shoppers were more than five times¹ as likely to click on retailers’ onsite product recommendations this year and 81%² more likely to click on personalized content campaigns. On top of this, they were 13% more likely to click through product recommendations sent in marketing emails.

“Shoppers are definitely putting more time and effort into their holiday shopping, meaning that the retailers who make it easier for them to find the right products are reaping the benefits,” said Jan Soerensen, General Manager North America, Nosto. “For example, retailers’ product discovery campaigns this Cyber Weekend included 76% more product recommendations, more than 2x³ more personalized content, and 5x⁴ more online pop-ups compared to 2022”. 

The vertical perspective
Nosto’s data tracked over 112 million visits to global ecommerce stores on its platform, and saw YoY growth across a variety of verticals:

• Health & Beauty: traffic was up 14.76%, sales up 14.52%, and AOV up 11.21%
• Fashion & Accessories: traffic went up 26.38%, sales increased 4.56%, and AOV was 4.27% higher
• Sporting Goods & Hobbies: traffic was up 23.03%, sales increased by 12.85% and AOV went up 7.84%

Mobile continues to be the dominant device for ecommerce purchases, with 74% of all traffic and 62% of sales during Cyber Weekend coming from people shopping on their phones. However, consumers are still using desktops for their highest-value purchases, with this channel seeing an AOV of $141.59 (USD) compared with $109.01 on mobile.

“As ecommerce sites grow in size and complexity, it is vital that retailers invest to make it as easy as possible for shoppers to find the perfect gift online,” said Jan Soerensen. “The winning retailers in the 2023 holiday shopping season are focusing heavily on driving product discovery and are reaping the results as savvy shoppers choose them for their spending.”

All the performance numbers from Nosto’s analysis of Cyber Weekend 2023 are listed in its blog at http://localhost:10094/blog/black-friday-cyber-monday-2023/

-Ends-

¹419% increase in clicks on product recommendations (YoY)

²81% increase in clicks on personalized onsite content campaigns (YoY)

³110% more personalized onsite content campaigns served (YoY)

⁴443% more online pop-ups displayed (YoY)

About the data

Nosto’s findings are based on analysis of over 112 million website visits during BFCM weekend (96 hours across Friday 00 UTC to Tuesday 00 UTC) to 1127 online stores that use Nosto’s Commerce Experience Platform (CXP), including merchants in North America, United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. The analysis incorporates data for the period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023 and compares seasonal performance metrics against Nosto merchant websites during the same period in 2022. The comparative YoY analysis demonstrates performance adjustments across common merchants that were using Nosto’s platform in 2022 and in 2023. Singular 2023 analysis demonstrates the total performance of all merchants using Nosto’s platform during the BFCM weekend 2023.