Amidst a challenging economic climate, businesses are ramping up their ad spend and placing their bets on which platform will deliver ROI this Black Friday. We take a look at how businesses are preparing, where they’re putting their spend, and how managing cash flow is critical to success.
Black Friday is still a pivotal moment this year for boosting sales and customer engagement despite the current economy. Ecommerce businesses started to ramp up their ad spend as early as September. Our analysis of UK ecommerce business spend across shows a huge 220% year-on-year increase in median spend on advertising in September.
Ad spend usually peaks the two weeks straddling the end of October and early November, and businesses are doubling down this year, with a median average increase of 151% and 100%, respectively, year-on-year.
The figures suggest that November will be a record-breaking month for UK ad spend.
Year-on-year growth is projected at 46%, which would make it the best November on record.
Ecommerce businesses are placing their bets on which platforms will pay off. UK ecommerce is focusing spend on Meta and Google, with 85% of total ad spend budgets shared between these platforms.
While Meta has historically been the platform of choice, Google is growing its share of spend, which is up from 22.7% in October 2022 to 29.5% in the same period this year. Amazon is also growing in popularity, more than doubling its share of budget allocations year-on-year: up from 3.5% to 8.4% compared last September to this year.
The ecommerce sector has been preparing for peak season much earlier this year. Our quarterly Digital Commerce Spend Reports show record spending levels on inventory made in Q2 to stock up months in advance, followed by record ad spend in Q3 to support marketing and sales efforts.
“Despite the economic climate, Black Friday remains a critical opportunity for sales and business growth for ecommerce businesses, and spending patterns reflect this sentiment”, says Samir El-Sabini, CEO at Juni. “Their results around this period will be a real indicator of how well they have prepared by investing in stock and marketing. Time will tell if consumers are as willing to open their wallets as in previous years.”
Peak season is a key moment for ecommerce businesses to deliver returns on investments made earlier this year. This is where using business data to manage cash flow will be critical.
Whatever the outcome this Black Friday, you need to ensure you have enough runway to grow your business and survive seasonal highs and lows. Businesses are increasing investment in stock and ad spend earlier. So, you’ll need business intelligence to determine how this will work for you and the capital to scale without impacting your liquidity.
Playtech startup Boxbollen was facing this challenge. “Running a predominantly seasonal ecommerce business imposes a tangible strain on our liquidity, balancing consistent year-round operations and escalating to meet significant Q4 demand,” says Jacob Eriksson, Co-Founder at Boxbollen.
Boxbollen's founders searched for a solution to help them grow the business throughout the year by bridging the gap between seasonal spikes in sales. With Juni, they have all the tools and support they need to ramp up for peak season – and beyond. See how Juni helped Boxbollen increase control and scale their spend.
Successfully managing your cash flow is a challenge when you factor in seasonality, but having the right tools and spend insights can help you to control your cash flow, as well as make smarter decisions this Black Friday and beyond.
Juni can give you a unified view of your funds, multi-currency business accounts, corporate cards and unparalleled insights and analytics – all in one place. If you need an extra boost to your bottom line, our fast, flexible financing for everything from media buying to paying suppliers can help you extend your runway. See availability for your country.
By centralising your spend management, you can save valuable time and have the information you need to manage your cash flow at your fingertips.
Juni is not a bank – yet. We’re a financial technology company providing e-money services and as such are not part of a deposit guarantee scheme. Learn more about our license and how we keep your business and money safe.
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