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: 

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. "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.

1. Convert: Capture every click with seamless and high-speed checkouts.
2. Maximize: Protect margins, prevent fraud, and grow order value in real-time.
3. 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:

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: 

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: 

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: 

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:

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.

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