Cyber Weekend Benchmarking Data 2023 SaaS and Software Holiday Spend Report
The Q4 numbers of sales usually surpass those of the other months due to the end of year holidays as well as their associated shopping seasons But what percentage of that increase extend to Software and SaaS sales? And does it improve B2B sales, too? Or is it more of a B2C advantage?
serves as a merchant in charge for more than 350 companies who use our platform every day to market digital goods globally. We've looked at aggregate sales statistics to help you understand just how important Q4 can be to your SaaS, software, or other digital goods businesses.
Although the latest trends in holiday shopping may have started with Black Friday deals and spread through Cyber Monday, the entire weekend is often called Cyber Weekend -- and overall sales are generally strong as shoppers prepare for its many holidays. Are you taking advantage of all potential sales in Q4 for your software-related business?
Below, we'll cover:
About Us Data
Where are the Data Come From
The company supports more than 3500 businesses in helping to sell digital goods to more than 200 countries and territories globally, but we've narrowed down the data we used for this report to keep relevant to software and SaaS companies.
The data below are also specific to where sales took place, not which location the businesses are situated.
In order to get global data We selected eight nations that include including the United States, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia and China for a an overall picture of global sales.
When the data are from
The data below are pulled from 2018-2022 to give the most up-to-date insights, while showing trends that are constant over a 5-year timeframe and avoiding any outliers skewing the results unnecessarily.
Also, we utilize an index of seasonality to show each month's or quarter's sales against the year's weekly or monthly average.
US year-end trends for SaaS and software purchases
The first time we looked through U.S. software and SaaS sales data from 2018-2022 to glean insights on quarterly and monthly sales trends over the last five years.
When we calculated the monthly average then we compare every month with the average in order to calculate a percentage. In the example above, if February shows a percentage of 90%, this means it is 10% less in sales than the average monthly. If the November sales report shows a percentage that is 111% it indicates that its sales exceed by 11% the average monthly.
5YR Average US SaaS and Software Sales by Month
The peak sales are in November at 11% more than average for the month, sales for the entire quarter are the highest throughout the year, with October being 4% more than the previous month and December being 8% more.
5YR Average US SaaS and Software Sales per Quarter
When looking at the quarterly average Sales for Q4 are up by 8% -- high enough that each of the other three quarters falls just below the average.
World Year-end Trends SaaS and software purchases
Going beyond to the U.S., we combined data with the same parameters from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia and China. This provides a more clear picture of how late-year software sales could vary across the world.
The bump actually grows larger.
5YR Average Global SaaS and Software Sales per Month
Global sales jumped to the highest level of the year, which was 16% in November compared to the month-to-month average. Similar to above U.S. data above, October and December round out the highest quarter of the year, with four and seven percent growth.
5YR Average Global SaaS and Software Sales per Quarter
When viewed from the perspective of a quarterly view The Q4 numbers are 9 percent higher than the average for Q4 and is once more that high enough to make all three quarters to below the average.
Although global Q4 sales were just one percent more than those within the U.S. for the same quarter, November as a standalone month saw a rise of 16% over the U.S.'s 11% increase during the same month- suggesting that November specifically offers a tremendous opportunity for sales across the globe.
5YR Average SaaS and Software Sales by Month and Country
More information of how each month's sales break out by country We analyzed the data for the 8 nations we have included in our global overview. Below is a look at what monthly software sales changes look like using five years of data for those countries: the United States (US), Canada (CA), Germany (DE), Great Britain (GB), India (IN), Brazil (BR), Australia (AU), and China (CN).
The huge gains in nations such as China and Germany in November suggest that there is a great chance for SaaS as well as software firms to profit in Q4 in particular if they're targeting those countries as part of an overall expansion plan.
Furthermore, even though U.S. data suggest a smaller lift of only 11% in November, remember this: North America accounts for a huge significant portion of worldwide software and SaaS sales, with one research study showing that 43% of the 2022 global software revenue attributable in North America, and another reporting a share of as high as 57.5% of the 2020 global SaaS market that is attributed to NA. Thus, a rise of 11% during November in North America in the U.S. could mean a increase in revenue when the U.S. is a part of the larger pie.
B2C vs. B2B
The majority of businesses that sell software globally offer simultaneously B2C and B2B markets. Regardless of no matter if your SaaS company is focused on both or just one is important to observe how sales performance differs between two markets. The information gathered can aid you in deciding how to concentrate your marketing and sales efforts within those areas, particularly in the case of one sector offering greater chance.
The resulting data show the similar trends across the year. Q4 was the most profitable quarter in both of these segments.
B2C sales saw an average increase of 11% above the quarterly average that is not surprising during a time of year known for promoting consumerism -- "consumer" is in the title.
However, don't be too smug about B2B sales in Q4. Even though B2B revenue appears to be slightly more stable throughout the year than B2C revenue, a 5% lift in Q4 is significant within a sometimes high-spending segment, which is taking advantage of end-of-year deals, regardless of whether the buyer purchases either for themselves or their business. Credit cards for corporate use remain in use by many people -- those who are looking to purchase software, and who may need to find a great deal particularly if strict departmental budgets play a role when making purchases.
In addition, B2B buyers may be looking to use funds from their budget prior to the close of the year so that their budget is not reduced next year, or they could be pushing their departments or teams to be equipped using the proper equipment prior to the beginning of the new year. Business-specific instances like these could be a factor in the rise of B2B sales in the fourth quarter despite all of the holiday work disruptions.
Cyber Weekend Strategies for SaaS and Software Companies
Wondering about the best ways to profit from that Q4 bump? No matter if you're targeting B2C or B2B customers These are a few tactical strategies for boosting the number of applications and SaaS sales by the end this year.
Offer Partners Custom Coupon Promo Codes
Additionally, you'll be able better track how that sales promotion performed compared to other coupons.
Do You Not Have Any Partners To Give Custom Coupons To? Locate Some!
If you're not yet taking the advantage of partnerships with promotional partners The holiday season is a great time to spur on new connections. Search for SaaS or software firms which offer products that compliments yours. (For instance, if you develop a database software, look for companies that make front end tools.)
Alongside custom coupon codes offer to exchange Cyber Weekend promotions to each of their audiences through the use of email messages, site banners, mentions on social media, or other preferred methods that will help both companies improve sales for the final quarter of the year.
Contact Your Prospects
Even if you choose not to pursue partnership promotions -- or if that's more of a project for which you'll require more time to prepare for -- emailing your existing prospect list is a relatively straightforward and simple method to execute.
Potential buyers can't benefit from offers they don't even know about Don't just rely on banners for your website to draw the attention of potential customers when they visit your website. Get the visitors to your site with proactive emails about forthcoming or current offers to draw their attention wherever they may be.
Email Your Current Customers
As with potential customers, they can't be upsold if they don't know about holiday promotions, either.
Here are just a few potential opportunities for earning money that to target the existing users you have:
- Add-ons to upsell. Analyze user data for customers that use your product the most often or the most general, because they may have the highest likelihood of wanting further features or accessibility.
- Upsell bigger subscriptions with more options. Like downloads, if it is possible to pinpoint your product's power users, then you can target people who are most likely to buy more from the product.
- Change freemium users to paid subscribers by offering an irresistible sale. If freemium is a big element of your company's strategy, then a hefty holiday sale might serve as a lever to convert users who love what they can access to but know they could really use lots more.
- The ability to upsell individual subscriptions to team subscriptions, or from enterprise to team subscriptions. It might not be straightforward to find out which power users also become evangelists of your products within their own companies, but if you are able to gather contextual information about users (such such as the kind that can be collected by your internal salesforce), Q4 could be the perfect time to focus on companies where you have some users, but also the opportunity to get a lot more.
- Cross-sell into entirely brand new products. If your business model includes various standalone products, there's an enormous opportunity to target the user base of one product with offers to purchase the other or the reverse is true. The greater number of products you own, the more segmentation you can do as well as the better chances you'll have.
- Switch users between annual to monthly subscriptions. It is the English saying "A bird in a hand is worth two birds in the bush" often applies in business because the revenue that is available to your company now might be better than slightly higher revenue that is distributed in a gradual manner over the next. Make the most of customers being looking for bargains during Q4 by entice them with a great bargain to cut costs over the long term when they switch their subscription to a yearly one.
Leverage Social Media
Social media is the perfect platform for celebrating holidays, and sharing festive content from your company can make sense.
Many social media platforms have advertising options that be targeted at users based on geography or interests. Consider taking advantage of the possibility to show regional holiday ads in applicable regions, or to display advertisements to those who have expressed interests in this holiday on the platform.
Conversely, organic social media content -- which can often be seen by all users who are following you, regardless of location could be an excellent way to spread sales without limit the number of views you can get to a specific group of people. Just keep in mind that if your fans or the audience you are targeting is very broad, your holiday-specific organic posts should be too.
Offer More Aggressive discounts in the Target Geos
If you experience greater profitability in one particular area or you are looking to break into a new market, offering more than usual discounts in particular areas can allow you to take advantage of Cyber Weekend sales increases.
In order to implement this, make use of GeoIP-based features on your site to highlight regional-specific discount codes.
You can then use the Store Builder Library to automate the application of these codes in the checkout to help increase your conversion rates.
Localize Holiday Promotions
While Cyber Weekend has become popular across the globe, there are still local holidays that may be more profitable in the specific region or country you're looking to target. The holidays such as Boxing Day can rival more U.S.-centric specials (such such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday) for countries like the UK, Australia, and Canada.
Create your own holiday campaign in accordance with geography to ensure you don't miss huge opportunities in the key regions.
What Can I Do?
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