Shopify merchants had an incredible Black Friday Cyber Monday (BCFM) shopping weekend, with more than 600,000 sellers from 175 countries generating more than $1.5 billion in sales. Among the highlights was the move to mobile shopping. Sixty-six percent of Shopify sales during BCFM occurred on mobile devices, compared to 34 percent shopping on desktops. Shopify said part of this was due to responsive themes and a variety of mobile-friendly payment options including Shopify Pay, Google Pay and Apple Pay. One merchant, Victoria Emerson, had conversions four times higher using Shopify Pay.

Here are some additional highlights from BCFM 2018:

• At their top selling point, Shopify merchants generated more than $37 million in sales per hour, $870,000 per minute and peak orders of 10,978 per minute.
• The majority of sales were from North American consumers, but 18.54 percent of all orders will be shipped internationally – over 30 billion miles in total.
• The average rate of conversion was highest via email at 4.38 percent, followed by direct contact at 4.35 percent, search at 3.6 percent and social at 2 percent.
• Peak shopping hours were noon and 9 p.m. Noon was particularly busy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Late evening was popular on Cyber Monday as shoppers tried to snatch up the last of the day’s deals.
• Sales began to escalate prior to the holiday shopping weekend, in anticipation of BCFM.

“Mobile shopping has firmly established itself as the new normal,” said the Shopify Team in a November 28 blog post.

Their stellar sales didn’t happen by accident though. Shopify developed a BCFM toolbox to help merchants with a four-step plan to set themselves up for success.

1. Deals, discounts and promos. Shopify recommended that merchants create more sales by rewarding loyal customers with discounts, BOGO offers and free shipping. They pointed merchants to additional resources to help them set up such promotions, such as Richard Lazazzera’s March 14, 2018 blog post, “19 Ways to Use Offers, Coupons, Discounts and Deals to Generate More Sales.”
2. Sharing their wares. By using tools like Facebook and Instagram ads and Google Smart Shopping campaigns, merchants can meet customers where they already are. Because they can create posts and campaigns in Shopify, they don’t even have to leave the app to set up marketing throughout the season. This makes it easier for merchants, creating loyalty between merchants and Shopify.
3. Get help with Shopify Ping. Using this iOS mobile app, Shopify merchants can run their retail stores on the go. The app helps merchants communicate with their customers, and it helps merchants manage their marketing campaigns, including everything from refining product photos to adding products to merchants’ online stores.
4. Track results. Merchants can identify what’s working and what isn’t using Shopify Reports and insights from apps that integrate with Shopify.

Insider Take:

Shopify works year-round to help its merchants to be successful through great, affordable merchant tools; mobile-friendly shopping experiences; strong onboarding; and ongoing marketing support. We are pleased to see that shoppers and merchants alike are enjoying the experience made possible, in part, to Shopify’s merchant subscription services which range in price from $29 to $299 a month, after a 14-day free trial. With three different plans (Basic Shopify, Shopify and Advanced Shopify) and no set up fees, merchants can choose which tools and support they need. Even better, Shopify’s merchant solutions are scalable, an excellent best practice for any subscription company to follow. Well done, Shopify.