RetailMeNot Announces Holiday Deal Trends as Black Friday and Cyber Monday Beat Records

- Dollar-off discounts were 14% deeper from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday 2017

- 11.5% more offers were available Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday through RetailMeNot this year

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Nov 29, 2017, 16:13 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RetailMeNot, Inc., today announced consumer and retailer trends following the Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday shopping weekend. RetailMeNot data shows retailers issued more—and better—promotions resulting in record spending from consumers.

Two Full Weeks of Deals From Retailers
The majority of retailers focused their promotions on the two-week period from November 15 through Cyber Monday, with 10% of those shifting their promotions from the beginning of November last year back to the middle of the month this year. As a notable outlier, multi-category retailers were more likely to promote in early November, while single-category retailers started promoting mid-month.

While retailers issued promotions labeled "Black Friday" in advance of Thanksgiving, those discounts were often not as deep as those released on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Two out of three retailers made adjustments to their promotional strategy for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and where we observed retailers changing their promotions, more than half of the deals were of better quality than those offered in 2016.

"Most retailers started promoting Black Friday offers well in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday," said Marissa Tarleton, CMO, RetailMeNot, Inc. "However, while Black Friday labeled promotions and marketing began mid-month, retailers saved their deepest discounts for Black Friday and Cyber Monday itself, proving that these are still the days to get the best deals."

In addition, the volume of offers increased with 11.5% more offers available Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday through RetailMeNot compared to the same time frame in 2016. E-commerce continued to be a focus for retail marketers on Black Friday, as 57% of the top 100 offers on RetailMeNot were online-only.

Not Just More Deals but Better Deals
This year, retailers offered 14% deeper dollar-off discounts from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday compared to last year. Not only were dollar-off discounts better, but consumers were more likely to find deals that could be stacked using Cash Back Offers and/or discount e-gift cards combined with retailers' typical promo codes or sales for maximum savings.

The deepest percent-off discounts on Black Friday aggregated by category were found in travel (average 45% off), designer clothing (average 36% off), and teen clothing (average 26% off).

"Among our top 100 retailers, many brands saw the highest consumer engagement with Cash Back Offers, including American Eagle Outfitters, Express, and Staples," said Tarleton.

Deepest Discounts on Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday offers continued the trend of big savings, with even deeper dollar-off discounts than Black Friday. The top 100 offers for Cyber Monday had a 12% higher average dollar-off discount than Black Friday, and 56% of all Cyber Monday offers were of better quality than in 2016. On average, Cyber Monday offers were 20% more likely to include free shipping than Black Friday offers.

The deepest percent-off discounts on Cyber Monday were found in the clothing category—notably in designer clothing (average 33% off), and teen clothing (average 32% off).

December Expectations
Following Black Friday and Cyber Week, retailers still have plenty of opportunity to reach shoppers before Christmas, and most opportunity lies in driving sales to their brick-and-mortar locations. As free shipping deadlines approach, 41% of consumers surveyed reported they feel nervous about online purchases arriving in a timely manner. This worry will likely drive more shoppers to pick up gifts in stores during the final days of the season. In fact, almost 9 in 10 (87%) consumers surveyed by RetailMeNot plan to visit a physical store in the month of December, and on average, they plan to do so seven times.

"December is the month when mobile marketing is critical to retailers' success both online and in-store," said Tarleton. "Many consumers begin their shopping journey on their mobile devices and most often complete purchases within a physical retail store, especially after mid-December."

Methodology
Data and insights are based on analysis of a subset of the 500,000 offers from 50,000 retailers within our internal data, including engagement insights from consumers who engaged with these retailers on RetailMeNot's website and app platforms between November 1 and 27, 2017.

Discounts were evaluated in categories for distinction: "dollar-off" promotions with language specific to dollar discount amounts were evaluated on dollar amount, while "percent-off" promotions with language specific to a percentage discount were evaluated on percentage basis. Offers with language using both terms were evaluated in either category as applicable.

About RetailMeNot, Inc.
RetailMeNot, Inc. (https://www.retailmenot.com/corp/) is a leading savings destination connecting consumers with retailers, restaurants and brands, both online and in-store. The company enables consumers across the globe to find hundreds of thousands of digital offers to save money while they shop or dine out. RetailMeNot, Inc. estimates that approximately $4.4 billion in retailer sales were attributable to consumer transactions from paid digital offers in its marketplace in 2016, more than $600 million of which were attributable to its in-store solution. The RetailMeNot, Inc. portfolio of websites and mobile applications includes RetailMeNot.com in the United States; RetailMeNot.ca in Canada; VoucherCodes.co.uk in the United Kingdom; ma-reduc.com and Poulpeo.com in France; and GiftCardZen.com and Deals2Buy.com in North America. As wholly owned subsidiaries of Harland Clarke Holdings, RetailMeNot and Valassis, a leader in intelligent media delivery, are partnering to connect retailers and consumers through meaningful digital, mobile and print promotions both online and in store.