The strategies that defined BFCM 2024

Table of contents

• • Timing the holiday rush

  • The new consumer paradigm

  • The multi-channel imperative

  • Zooming in on industry

• Building on 2024's lessons for the new year

Klaviyo customers achieved record-breaking results this BFCM. Over 15,000 brands experienced their best sales day ever and, overall, Klaviyo customers drove more than $3 billion in total Klaviyo-attributed value (KAV) between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

The most active marketing hour for Klaviyo customers was 9 a.m-10 a.m ET on Black Friday, during which more than 420 million messages were sent. Peak order volume followed between noon-1 p.m. ET that day when Klaviyo customers saw 1.3 million orders come through.

Here's what Klaviyo's BFCM data revealed about shifting consumer behavior, how top brands adjusted to stay ahead, and what it all means for 2025.

Timing the holiday rush

Marketers took advantage of a late BFCM this year and began their discounting campaigns early. Many brands began launching BFCM promotions on November 7, following lower promotional volume leading up to and during the US election on November 5.

And they didn't let their foot off the pedal. Promotional messages continued to increase as a percent of total messages sent through BFCM, accelerating again around November 21, when Amazon's Black Friday sales event began.

By the Monday before Thanksgiving, more than 40% of email campaigns contained discounts.

Consumers also started BFCM early, beginning to purchase more quickly from brands as early as 3 weeks prior to Thanksgiving. Ultimately, the time to purchase sped up by 40% for BFCM in comparison to the rest of the year.

These early campaigns help consumers manage budgets and provide opportunities for brands to capture market share ahead of competitors.

What this means for you in 2025

• Launch earlier: Plan BFCM campaigns to start well before November to capture early demand and alleviate consumer budget constraints.
• Leverage predictive analytics: Use Klaviyo's predictive analytics to identify and tailor messaging for early-shopping segments, such as Gen X and boomers.
• Optimize timing with AI: Utilize Klaviyo's Smart Send Time optimization to deliver messages when consumers are most likely to engage, boosting early campaign effectiveness.

The new consumer paradigm

Contrary to pre-BFCM predictions emphasizing price sensitivity, consumers prioritized product quality and brand loyalty. Discounts in the 10-15% and 20-25% ranges performed better than steep price cuts, underscoring a shift toward value-driven purchasing.

Higher conversion and spending in lower discount bands suggests consumers were waiting for the right message about the right product from the right brand, rather than looking for the best deal.

This more discerning consumer is likely using reviews and user-generated content on social media platforms to decide which products and brands make the most sense for them, signing up for email and SMS messages from that brand, and then converting when a discount hits their inbox-even if that discount is small.

"This BFCM, our mission was to transform the shopping experience for our customers," says Andrea Hamm, senior marketing manager, lifecycle at Dr. Squatch. "By simplifying our messaging and adding excitement through gamified cart unlocks, we've made it easier and more fun for our customers to shop and save this season."

What this means for you in 2025

• Highlight craftsmanship and authenticity: Emphasize product quality and unique brand values in marketing materials, specifically your welcome series and post-purchase series.
• Personalize at scale: Utilize Klaviyo's predictive analytics to tailor messaging based on individual consumer preferences and purchase history, driving higher engagement and average order value (AOV).
• Utilize review sentiment AI: Use Klaviyo's review sentiment analysis to pinpoint and emphasize the product attributes most appreciated by your customers.
• Build year-round customer relationships: Focus on engaging with customers beyond seasonal campaigns by using personalized email and SMS touchpoints, loyalty programs, and value-driven content throughout the year. This helps foster deeper connections, improves retention, and ensures your brand stays top of mind when it matters most.

The multi-channel imperative

Gone are the days of the customer journey. Today's consumer engages with a brand across countless micro-moments. "Instead of treating consumers like a monolith, build personalized relationships with them-regardless of where they are in the purchase cycle or how they're engaging," says Jamie Domenici, CMO at Klaviyo.

Successful BFCM strategies in 2024 integrated multi-channel touchpoints to meet consumers wherever they preferred to shop.

Klaviyo customers that added SMS to their marketing strategy this year, for instance, experienced a 20% YoY increase in ecommerce revenue this BFCM, accounting for more than $100M in GMV.

Beyond email and SMS, the average number of events coming from Klaviyo integrations increased 60% year over year, per customer. Across all digital touchpoints, from social media advertising to physical stores, Klaviyo customers were leveraging consumer data to segment, personalize, and convert more than ever.

What this means for you in 2025

1. Integrated campaigns: Use Klaviyo's centralized customer data platform (CDP) to coordinate messages across email, SMS, mobile push, and in-store activations to ensure brand alignment and personalization for where individual consumers prefer to convert.
2. Refine with AI: Use Klaviyo's channel preference AI to identify where consumers prefer to convert and optimize channel use accordingly.
3. Focus on localized messaging: Learn from Tecovas, a Western goods brand that leverages local stores to segment messages for BFCM. "During BFCM, we use our emails to encourage visiting a retail store and segment to those subscribers we know have shopped in-store or live near a Tecovas retail location," says Megan Edwards, senior manager, CRM at Tecovas. "We see higher conversion rates in-store and encourage customers to come grab a drink and get fitted for the right pair of boots with a retail store near them. It's a fresh message during this time when inboxes are full of flash online sales and clearance messaging."

Zooming in on industry

Spending increased across most ecommerce industries year over year, but a handful of industries saw more significant increases in AOV and won a larger share of the consumer wallet.

The hardware and home improvement industry earned the biggest AOV share and year-over-year jump, beating out inflation with an AOV increase above 10%. The electronics and jewelry industries, meanwhile, also saw significant growth in AOV.

The relationship between AOV and conversion rates revealed additional insights into consumer behavior across industries this year. Klaviyo-attributed conversion rates tended to decline as AOV increased-highlighting the value-driven consumer mindset.

Industries like hardware & home improvement and electronics had the highest AOV, but experienced relatively lower conversion rates. These sectors cater to consumers making fewer but higher-value purchases, reflecting a preference for investing in quality over quantity.

Industries such as food & beverage and health & beauty saw higher conversion rates despite lower AOV. These categories are often driven by everyday or giftable purchases, where consumers are more likely to buy frequently but at smaller price points.

What this means for you in 2025

1. Tailor marketing by industry: Brands in high-AOV sectors should focus on building trust through transparent quality messaging and personalized campaigns, leveraging AI tools to predict which products drive loyalty. In industries with lower AOV, frequent touchpoints, such as personalized email and SMS campaigns, can increase conversion rates.
2. Leverage discount brackets: Use Klaviyo's predictive analytics to identify optimal discount levels that drive conversions without sacrificing AOV. Target segments based on their likelihood to respond to smaller, value-driven discounts.
3. Focus on multi-channel engagement: In higher-AOV sectors, use Klaviyo's multi-channel capabilities to deliver cohesive messages that emphasize product benefits. In lower-AOV industries, focus on urgency and volume-driven campaigns.

Building on 2024's lessons for the new year

Consumers prioritized meaningful engagement and quality product over transactional interactions this BFCM. Brands that embraced this shift, investing in quality goods, cross-channel coordination, and early campaigns, turned challenges into opportunities.

"This year's BFCM week was our strongest yet. We started really early this year with planning our segmentations and overall strategy, which played a major part in the success of our campaigns and flows," says Jordyn Casaus, director of digital at Crown Affair. "Klaviyo's AI segmentation tool cuts our time in half when doing segmentation work to define each segment. The accuracy is so helpful."

In 2025, ecommerce marketers need to prepare for a consumer landscape that demands ever-more digital convenience while balancing human connection, personalization, and authenticity. A brand's success next year will hinge on their ability to:

• Activate data in real-time to anticipate consumer needs.
• Leverage AI to drive hyper-personalized interactions.
• Build trust through transparency and genuine storytelling.

With a platform like Klaviyo, marketers are well-equipped to deepen consumer relationships, drive revenue, and set new benchmarks in 2025.