UK Black Friday 2024: Value Retailers and Video Ads Lead the Way

Key Takeaways:

• Shopping ad spend in the UK—the largest category by absolute value at $130mn—declined by 3% YoY during this year’s Black Friday week. Despite this, some shopping advertisers bucked the trend. Primark (up ~1000%), Alibaba (+300%), Shein (+200%), and Whoop (+129%) recorded significant increases in ad spend

  • CPG advertisers in the UK increased investments by 6% YoY, while financial services advertisers raised spending by 40%, driven – among others – by POS services, and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) brands like Klarna, which also saw a 27% YoY surge in average DAUs on Black Friday week this year, highlighting the growing reliance on BNPL during peak shopping periods

• Video-first ad networks emerged as a significant area of investment for top shopping brands, with combined ad spending on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Desktop Video up by 40% YoY on Black Friday week this year

• Black Friday advertising investments delivered mixed results for marketplaces. Amazon’s app DAUs rose by less than 1% compared with last year’s Black Friday week, while AliExpress and Temu saw DAUs increase by 70% and 55%, respectively. However, Temu’s unique website visits fell nearly 20% over the same period

• App usage across brick & mortar retailers showed a negative trend. Combined DAUs for Zara, H&M, and Nike fell by 15% YoY during Black Friday week, while their websites’ daily unique visitors dropped by 26%

  • However, Shein and Cider achieved strong growth in app DAUs (up 37% YoY), highlighting the competitive advantage of digital-only, budget-friendly platforms

• Black Friday saw notable YoY increases in ad spend by alcohol-related brands, perhaps influenced by the timing of the event aligning with the Christmas festive season. Among beer advertisers, Heineken led the growth, increasing its ad spend market share by 30ppts YoY, while Carlsberg’s share decreased to just 2% of the market