Black Week 2025: Turning peak season pressure into year-round growth
Black Week isn’t just a sales spike and the busiest shopping period of the year – it’s a stress test for your entire commerce ecosystem. Your checkout, operations, fraud prevention, and customer service – everything is pushed to its absolute limits. And in 2025, the stakes are higher than ever.
- Acquisition costs are rising, meaning every first-time buyer matters more than ever before.
- Price-sensitive consumers expect seamless, mobile-first – or they’ll switch to competitors.
- Sustainability trends, like Green Friday, are shaping discount strategies.
- Composable technology has become essential to adapt to changing markets at speed.
The result: Black Week is no longer just about one record-breaking sales week. It’s about building sustainable growth that lasts long after the discounts end.
Insights from Black Week 2024: What Nordic merchants need to know
Qliro analyzed millions of Nordic transactions during Black Week 2024, revealing clear shifts in consumer behavior for this year:
- BLACK FRIDAY IS LOSING GROUND
41% of all purchases happened before Friday, a 5.2% increase from 2023. Shoppers are starting earlier than ever, often aligned with early salary payouts. - MOBILE-FIRST ISN'T OPTIONAL ANYMORE
Usage of mobile payment methods like Swish, Vipps, and MobilePay surged 98% YoY. A mobile-first checkout experience, in other words, is critical for conversion. - "PAY LATER IS ESSENTIAL FOR OLDER SHOPPERS
Consumers over 60 choose pay-later options 18% more frequently than the average consumer. Yet this group was 34% underrepresented during Black Week, representing an untapped opportunity. Especially during the Christmas season.
Key takeaway: Peak season is evolving. To succeed in 2025, merchants must start campaigns earlier, optimize for a mobile-first, and start focusing on underserved demographics.
The problem with a discount-only strategy
Many merchants still treat Black Week as a short-term win-or-lose event – pushing the deepest discounts, hoping for record-breaking sales, then handling the fallout later.
But this approach comes with hidden costs:
- Margin erosion from aggressive discounting.
- High return rates that hurt profitability.
- Fraud risk spikes during peak season traffic surges.
- One-time shoppers who never return, resulting in wasted acquisition spend.
The real challenge: It’s not just about driving traffic. It’s about turning your traffic into sustainable and profitable growth.
The Qliro Flywheel: Growth beyond November
At Qliro, we help merchants shift from a “one big week” mindset to continuous, compounding growth. Our Qliro Flywheel framework shows how to transform every peak season transaction into long-term performance.
- Convert: Capture every click with seamless and high-speed checkouts.
- Maximize: Protect margins, prevent fraud, and grow order value in real-time.
- WOW experiences: Turn first-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers with memorable post-purchase experiences.
When you optimize all three stages, Black Week becomes the catalyst for growth. Not the end.
5 key strategies to accelerate your peak season performance
1. Optimize every click
During Black Week, every second of friction means lost revenue.
Quick wins:
Offer flexible payment options, including BNPL and B2B invoicing.
Embed loyalty sign-up directly into the checkout process.
Make UX accessible for older demographics (clear buttons, larger text, simple navigation...).
2. Protect your margins
Discounting doesn’t have to destroy profitability. With the correct data, you can maintain healthy margins even during periods of high volume.
Pro tips:
Implement real-time fraud detection to stop peak-season attacks.Use margin-based discounting rules to reward high-value customers.
Monitor live dashboards to instantly adapt campaigns.
Track return rates by product category to identify hidden cost drivers.
Insight: Historically, fraud attempts have seen significant surges during high-traffic periods (global studies show increases of up to ~60%). A risk that can severely impact profitability if unmanaged.
3. Deliver a flawless post-purchase experience
Black Week isn’t over when the order is placed. The delivery, communication, and return experience are key to turning first-time buyers into loyal customers.
Ideas that work:
Send proactive shipping updates to reduce support tickets.Provide self-service payment options with flexible scheduling
Offer transparent and hassle-free return policies to build trust.
Launch personalized post-purchase campaigns within 2–3 weeks.
Encourage reviews and referrals to boost organic growth.
Qliro insight: Older shoppers (60+) are underrepresented during Black Week (-34%), but overrepresented in December. Engaging them after Black Week is crucial.
4. Team up with a strategic growth partner
Peak season success isn’t a one-off project – it’s about continuous optimization. The right partner will:
Iterate quickly using composable, scalable technology.
Understand both B2C and B2B checkout complexity.
Help you adapt fast to market shifts, such as early shopping trends and new payment behaviors.
With Qliro, you get more than just a checkout. We team up as a strategic partner dedicated to your growth.
5. Future-proof your checkout
Your technology should never limit your growth. A composable checkout platform gives you the flexibility to:
Expand into new markets and channels without disruption.
Stay competitive without costly rebuilds.
Scale seamlessly for peak season traffic spikes.
2025 priority: Plan for early campaign launches – align your tech, logistics, and marketing before competitors go live.
From Black Week chaos to year-round growth
Black Week will always bring intense traffic and pressure. However, with the right strategy, it can serve as a launchpad for sustainable growth. Not just a short-lived sales spike.
By focusing on experience, performance, and continuous improvement, merchants can increase profitability, strengthen customer loyalty, and build a commerce ecosystem that grows smarter every year.
Ready to accelerate your business?
At Qliro, we help merchants in the Nordics and beyond turn payments into performance – before, during, and after Black Week. Reach out to our team about building a future-proof checkout strategy.