5 Tips on How to Deal with Holiday Week Data

We are officially through Black Friday week, which if you’re in ecommerce means a couple of things: a huge increase in traffic, a huge jump in sales, and an influx of irregular data that you now have to deal with. So, how do you make sense of all of this abnormal data? Here are 5 tips to help you make the most of your Black Friday week data.

1. Don’t worry if your A/B tests don’t reach stabilization this week.

Your data from Black Friday is great information for next year, but with a spike of traffic over a short period of time, it’s not necessarily going to give you definitive winners for your A/B tests. Focus more on keeping an eye on trends and learning what you can for next year.

2. Remember that your data may be anomalous.

Over the holiday week customers aren’t behaving typically. People are often responding to more vigorous marketing, shopping for others, buying seasonal items, or buying a lot more than they typically would. So, when you look at customer behavior from this weekend, remember that it’s valuable but won’t necessarily apply to the rest of the year. You’ll want to run any A/B tests you have going again after the holiday season.

3. Focus on micro-conversions.

Now’s the time to dig into those micro-conversions that lead up to purchases. Getting
that information now can set you up for success through December and the new year. Learn where in the customer journey customers experience friction, and what features lead to purchases on your site. While KPIs like average order value might not line up with other times of the year, identifying areas on your site that help a user to convert or cause a user to get stuck will be valuable information beyond Black Friday week.

4. Compare your Black Friday data to data from the rest of the year.

Look at your metrics now and compare them to your data during the rest of the year. Understanding how, exactly, behavior differs during the holiday week can set you up to make better, more informed decisions about how to manage sales and special offers throughout the year and will set you up for success next holiday season.

5. Look forward to the rest of the season.

Love it or hate it, don’t forget that Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t the end of the holiday season. Learn from your data, apply the learnings to your site, and keep moving on the six weeks of the season.

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