Square and Afterpay Surpass Records This Black Friday and Cyber Monday With Almost 6M Transactions in Canada
Data from the kickoff to the holiday shopping season shows growth across in-store, online, mobile, and social channels
Over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, Canadian businesses using Square and Afterpay broke records with 5.9M transactions, a 18% increase from last year. With almost one in three shoppers feeling more stressed about holiday shopping this year compared to last (28%), Canadians still turned out in droves for the mega discounting weekend to save on gifts, shopping both online and in-store and driving increased sales on these channels by 31% and 20%, respectively.
Canadian Black Friday, Cyber Monday highlights:
Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 8:38 PM EST was the peak minute of shopping in Canada. In 2023, this was Friday, November 24 at 2:07 p.m. EST.
Top cities in total spend included Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal.
Shoppers are doubling down on digital channels with online cart sizes 4.9X larger than in-person carts.
Gift givers who aimed for the least stressful holiday shopping experience leaned on gift cards, making up 15,832 purchased this year, a 9% year-over-year growth. The most popular categories for gift card purchases were food and beverage, beauty and wellness, and retail.
The average promotion offered to consumers over the notoriously discount laden weekend was 18.9% at Square sellers, with online and in-store discounts averaging 19.7% and 18.9%, respectively. To better reach sellers across channels, 13% more businesses tapped into an omnichannel sales strategy, while pre-orders saw 20% growth as shoppers purchased popular items.
Square has also found that the holiday season goes beyond retail as shoppers dined out at local restaurants during the major weekend. Restaurant transactions were up 17%, while restaurants aimed to attract customers through Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts, with a 108% growth in discounts redeemed this past weekend.
Mindful shoppers also looked to alternatives to credit cards, with Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) transactions through Afterpay increasing 23% year-over-year.
“The Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend are typically a good indicator of the rest of the holiday sales season, so the results from this weekend are encouraging,” said Ara Kharazian, Research and Data Lead at Square. “It’s our goal with Square and Afterpay to facilitate the options that customers desire, in terms of where and when they shop and how they choose to pay. By offering customers more choice and flexibility through various payment options, we’re expanding access to the economy and empowering both sides of the counter.”
Methodology:
All data presented are unaudited and subject to adjustment.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Square and Afterpay analyzed millions of transactions across all seller industries globally in 2024 from November 29, 11:00 UTC to December 2, 23:59 UTC. All monetary metrics are displayed in USD. Countries include the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, France, Ireland, Spain, and New Zealand.