Black Friday 2025 is officially wrapped - and it turned out to be a record-breaking one for Tradedoubler. Across the four key shopping days from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, our global programs delivered an 8% uplift in order value, while average order value rose by 9.5%. Shoppers were clearly spending more per transaction, leaning into higher-value or multi-item baskets to “stock up” rather than purchase single items.
This year’s long weekend also revealed notable shifts in behaviour: spending spread more evenly across all four days, Sunday surpassed Cyber Monday, and consumers consistently chose larger baskets. Social, influencer, and onsite tech partners gained significant traction, while CSS remained a stable high-intent driver. Core retail categories continued to lead performance, with Travel holding strong as consumers increasingly invest in experiences alongside products. Together, these trends paint a picture of a Black Friday landscape that’s evolving fast and worth exploring in more detail.
From Black Friday to Cyber Monday: A Breakdown of Shopper Behaviour
Black Friday – Shopping Mood All Day Long
First things first: the biggest shopping day of the year delivered strong results - though with a few interesting twists. We recorded a 4% uplift in total order value and an 8% increase in average order value, despite a 4% drop in overall sales volume - indicating that shoppers who purchased were more selective and focused on higher-value or bundled items.
Shopping activity remained high from 9:00 onwards, with peaks around 11:00–12:00 and 20:00–22:00, showing that consumers no longer reserve their Black Friday shopping for the evening. Many consumers appear comfortable shopping during breaks, on mobile, or throughout the day as deals go live earlier and stay available longer.
The Thanksgiving to Black Friday uplift softened from 40% last year to 30% this year, suggesting demand is spreading more evenly across the long weekend rather than concentrating on a single day.
Saturday: A Steady But Soft Performance
Although Saturday was the weakest day of the four, performance still remained positive with a 9% uplift in order value.
Activity was steady throughout the day with peaks at 12:00 and 15:00, but notably no evening peak. This may indicate that Saturday has become a “catch-up” or “browse and buy” day - a moment when consumers who didn’t shop on Friday take another look, but without the urgency that drives evening surges.
Sunday: Highest OV Uplift and A Strong Evening Surge
Black Sunday emerged as the surprise standout, delivering the highest uplift in order value of the entire period with +11%. Traffic patterns showed smaller midday peaks at, followed by a strong evening surge. This behaviour aligns with a trend we’ve seen building in recent years: Sunday has become a key decision-making day. Consumers often research deals throughout the weekend, compare options, and make final purchases before promotions end - especially when retailers extend Black Friday offers into Sunday.
Cyber Monday: The Decline of a Once-Major Sales Event?
Cyber Monday delivered a mixed picture. Order value grew by 8%, but sales volume dropped by 17%, making it only the third-strongest day after Black Friday and Black Sunday in many markets. Clear shopping peaks were rare - notably Italy showed a strong one, with smaller spikes in the UK and DACH, and none across Australia, Spain & LATAM, France, Benelux, Poland, or the Nordics.
Overall, Cyber Monday appears to be losing relevance as a standalone event. With promotions launching earlier and running through the entire weekend, consumers increasingly make their purchases on Friday or Sunday rather than holding out for Monday deals, reducing the urgency traditionally associated with the day.
Brand Verticals: Retail Reigns While Travel Holds Strong
Unsurprisingly, Retail, Electronics, and Fashion dominated the long weekend. Together they accounted for around 79% of total order value, reflecting consumers’ continued focus on practical purchases and big-ticket upgrades during the peak sales period.
One noteworthy development: Travel remained strong, showing a stable order value contribution compared to last year. This highlights that experience-led spending continues to play an important role, even during a retail-centric week. Consumers appear consistently willing to commit to trips, experiences, and getaways - and many use Black Friday pricing as an opportunity to secure them early.
Publisher Segments: Onsite Tech, Social Commerce & Cashback Drive Performance
The standout segment this year was onsite tech partners, delivering a five-fold uplift in order value contribution. Their strong performance reflects a broader shift toward maximising on-site efficiency: during Black Friday, when intent is already high, consumers respond well to tools and prompts that help them navigate offers, reduce friction, and complete purchases more confidently.
CSS partners remained broadly stable year-over-year, underscoring their continued relevance during high-intent shopping periods. With consumers consistently comparing prices across multiple merchants, CSS channels remain a reliable driver of qualified traffic and purchase-ready shoppers.
Social and Influencer partners saw noticeable growth in their order value contribution, highlighting the rising importance of creators and social commerce in product discovery and purchase validation. With shoppers increasingly relying on authentic recommendations and short-form content, these channels continue to gain influence during peak moments.
Meanwhile, Cashback maintained its position as the largest publisher segment in terms of order value contribution - and even strengthened its share. In a promotional environment like Black Friday, value-driven incentives continue to resonate with consumers who are actively seeking the best possible deal.
Market Movers: Why DACH, Australia, and Benelux Surged During Black Friday
This year, Benelux, Australia and the DACH-region delivered the strongest YoY growth across all our markets. The respective country managers explain what fuelled their growth.
DACH – Early Planning Drove Strong Growth
“DACH was one of our strongest-growing regions, thanks to early preparation, close advertiser alignment, and a deep analysis of last year’s performance that allowed us to optimise accordingly. By reviewing results well in advance, we secured key placements early - many even pre-reserved - and advertisers reinvested early-bird savings into additional exposure. As a result, we generated a 37% uplift in order value for our DACH clients”, comments Benjamin Gromann, General Manager DACH.
Australia & New Zealand – High Participation and Strong Partner Activation
“We saw exceptional growth this year because we prepared early and brands showed up with genuinely strong offers. Our team put real focus into onboarding and activating new partners, and locking in premium placements from as early as August which gave us a clear advantage. Even the brands that joined late invested boldly and delivered great results. BFCM became an obsession for the AU team early on, and the results really reflect that collective effort.”, states Seth Rubin, General Manager AU.
Benelux – Early Exposure and Feed Optimization Paid Off
“The Benelux team combined early exposure bookings with continued pushes right up to the last minute, resulting in strong coverage and CPA initiatives. A major focus on product feed optimization, including activating campaign fields and ensuring sale prices were included, helped improve visibility and performance during Black Week”, explains Stefanie Severien, General Manager Benelux.
Black Friday Wrapped
Black Friday 2025 delivered record-breaking results for Tradedoubler, marked by higher-value baskets, strong engagement throughout the entire weekend, and an interesting shift in when and how consumers choose to buy - driven by the growing influence of social and influencer partners as key discovery channels. With Sunday being the second strongest day and Cyber Monday losing relevance, shopper behaviour is clearly spreading more evenly across the long weekend.
Our strongest-growing markets showed the impact of early planning, strong advertiser alignment, and proactive partner development. These results point toward a continued evolution of peak-season shopping: one where preparedness, diversified channel strategies, and early activation will matter more than ever. As we look ahead to 2026, the opportunity lies in building on this momentum and helping brands meet consumers across an increasingly dynamic and distributed Black Friday landscape.