BFCM 2024 emails: the days with the most impact

Now that the dust has settled on Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) 2024, it’s the best time to investigate how Seguno email marketing merchants fared and learn from the data it produced. 

What days during BFCM week were the most successful for sending emails? Were there any duds? We’re answering some of those questions so that Shopify merchants can go into BFCM 2025 email planning with a better sense of what they need to do. 

The numbers show that Black Friday reigns supreme for revenue generation and sales. Cyber Monday also pulled its weight at No. 2, but its luster fades once you peel back the layers.

Revenue is only one indication of performance and paints a partial picture. Often, other metrics unlock more interesting consumer behaviors. Here are some of the top findings:

Keep reading for all the insights and more. 
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What we analyzed

In previous years, our BFCM data research was limited to “the Cyber 5” (Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday). Since many merchants hunker down on BFCM promotions earlier in the week, we expanded the scope. Our study now encompasses the eight days between Monday, Nov. 25, and Monday, Dec. 2.

The BFCM 2024 retrospective includes a look into:

• Single emails and multi-email campaigns 
• An analysis of welcome and abandoned cart emails
• Number of emails sent and clicked on
• Conversions, revenue, and AOVs
• Comparisons to an average day in October 2024
• Subject lines 

All data stems from shops that operate in USD since they have long embraced BFCM as a sales vehicle. (Most USD plus non-USD data aligns, though values are comparatively lower in general.)  

How much of an impact did BFCM 2024 have?

Anecdotes and research indicate that BFCM is vital for merchants. Seguno merchants certainly reaped the rewards of the eight-day period. 

Compared to an average day in October (when merchants sent about half the number of emails), BFCM newsletters resulted in:

• A higher rate of conversion for all days but one (Monday, Nov. 25)
• Triple the amount of revenue 

Another gain: higher AOVs. The BFCM average catapulted to $118.12, a 38.57% increase over the October newsletter average of $85.24.  

What are the perks of sending before Black Friday?

What we said last year bears repeating: The earlier you send, the better. Promotions sent at the beginning of the BFCM 2024 week:

1. Stoked interest 
2. Brought in higher cart values   

1. Tempting subscribers to take a peek

Click-through rates (CTRs) indicate subscriber interest. You’ve done your job when you entice email openers to take one more step and visit your website. 

The three days with the highest CTRs precede Black Friday:

1. Tuesday, Nov. 26
2. Thanksgiving
3. Wednesday, Nov. 27

2. Netting larger carts

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving saw the highest average AOV, 31.7% above the BFCM average. And of the best days for AOV, three out of four were before Black Friday. Is it an indication that shoppers have more money to spend earlier, or are eager to get shopping done sooner? 

Aside from Wednesday’s massive AOV, Monday is worth noting. There is nothing else remarkable about Monday emails, but we wonder if the overall data would look different if merchants sent more that day. It was the least popular sending day.
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What sending days score the best ROI?

It’s easy to get lost amid a large data set. We stepped back to ask, “What days are promising for getting the most bang for your buck?”

Our return on investment (ROI) computation is a simplified version. We divided the revenue generated each day by the number of emails sent that day.

Four days surpassed the eight-day ROI average: 

1. Wednesday, Nov. 27
2. Thanksgiving
3. Black Friday
4. Tuesday, Nov. 26 

Emails sent on Wednesday are the diamond in the rough. 

We mentioned they catalyzed the highest AOV by a lot — beating the second-highest AOV by $24 — and produced a great click-through rate. 

They accounted for just 10.67% of the BFCM sending but 15% of the revenue. 

Framed differently, 77% more emails were sent on Cyber Monday than Wednesday. Yet Cyber Monday emails only generated 4% more revenue.    

#2 Thanksgiving holds its ground 

Seguno customers made significant gains with Thanksgiving emails in BFCM 2023. Aside from the No. 2 ROI slot, Thanksgiving was a dependable sending day by ranking within the top half for every metric measured. 

#3 Black Friday is a critical sending day 

Black Friday led in the number of emails sent, which no doubt contributed to enormous orders and revenue (it generated 22% of BFCM revenue). A strong conversion rate makes up for a below-average AOV.     

Besides the positive ROI score and highest click rate, Tuesday had a high conversion rate. It places No. 2 behind Small Business Saturday. These are fantastic results, especially since it was the second-lowest sending day. 

How do Cyber Monday emails stack up?

An Adobe report indicates that Cyber Monday spending historically outpaces Black Friday spending. 

The same hasn’t been true for Seguno merchants as a whole. Cyber Monday revenue has consistently taken a back seat to Black Friday since we initiated the BFCM report in 2022. 

We can’t pinpoint why this is the case. Perhaps our merchants simply can’t compete with the type of significant savings that consumers typically expect and get from huge, global brands.    

Still, Cyber Monday emails are vital to Seguno customers’ BFCM performance. They contribute the second-highest amount of sales and revenue, and have an above-average AOV.  

But their ROI is below average, they have the second-worst click rate, and they’re rather low on the conversion rate scale. 

Our advice: Send on Cyber Monday but put more effort into earlier emails.
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How much did automations contribute?

Email automation eases your workload and makes you money year-round because it’s based on the user’s actions. Just as in previous years, its value increased for BFCM 2024.

We looked closer at the two most popular automations — welcome and abandoned cart automations — and found that during BFCM 2024: 

• Automations made up 0.48% of the total emails but resulted in 8% of the total revenue   
• Their conversion rates were much higher than the conversion rates of BFCM newsletters: 
  • Welcome emails: a 123% increase 
  • Abandoned checkout emails: a 247% increase
• Automation AOVs were much higher than the BFCM newsletter AOV:   
  • Welcome emails: $160.77 (36.11% higher) 
  • Abandoned checkout emails: $148.73 (25.9% higher)

What makes for a click-worthy subject line?

Email subject line analysis isn’t as straightforward as pulling numbers. We’ve run a dozen queries to find what might attract an open.   

Most of our observations are consistent with last year’s findings: 

• Subject lines containing “BFCM” outperformed those with “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday” — they had the highest open rate (plus conversions and revenue) and were also less common
• Shorter is better – subject lines of three words or less had the highest open rates, followed by those with four to seven words; subject lines with more than eight words had the lowest open rate
• Subject lines with no emojis had better open rates than those that had emojis 

What does all of this mean for BFCM 2025?

No one can predict consumer tendencies a year from now. But we can make suggestions on what to do based on the data we see in 2024 and the consistent year-over-year trends. 

The three biggest takeaways of our BFCM 2024 report: 

1. Don’t wait until Black Friday to email, but start Monday or Tuesday, and definitely email on Wednesday.  
2. Send an email on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They’re still good bets.  
3. Ensure you have automations turned on — at least a welcome and abandoned checkout email. Make a series for multiple chances to convert. 

Take time now to investigate your own BFCM email metrics. We’re sure you’ll discover observations that are particular to and helpful for your brand.