2024 eCommerce Lessons for the New Year
The holiday season is behind us now, but it provides a good opportunity to take a look back at the busiest shopping time of the year to understand trends and shifts that might inform the shopping and ecommerce space in 2025.
As we look back at the 2024 holiday shopping season, particularly Black Friday and Cyber Monday in Canada, we’ll also take a look at the Canadian shopping culture. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the most popular shopping events. The number of consumers flocking online and in-store was huge this year.
Here’s a glimpse at how Canadians embraced this holiday season and the top trends, and how advertisers can start planning now for 2025’s peak season.
The evolution of online shopping in Canada
In 2024, the position of online shopping in Canada solidified significantly. The convenience and efficiency of ecommerce has led to record-breaking sales driven mainly by platforms like Amazon and also Shopify-powered online stores. More than 65% of holiday purchases were online. Moreover, there was a surge in mobile shopping – it grew by 40% compared to 2023. The shift to mobile ecommerce pushed mobile-optimized websites into the spotlight highlighting its importance. Notably, online transactions increased by 31% and the overall sales growth was recorded at 18% year over year.

Planning in advance
In 2024, Canadian retailers and ecommerce sites demonstrated agility by planning their ad spends well in advance. Most brands prioritized digital advertising, leveraging platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and search engines to maximize reach. Unlike previous years, Black Friday sales in 2024 started in late November, and Cyber Monday extended into the first week of December. This shift prompted competitors to launch early Black Friday ads, resulting in longer campaign durations compared to 2023.
Google Ads and paid social media campaigns were targeted taking into consideration the likes, preferences and online behaviour of the audience. Brands ensured that holiday shoppers were targeted with personalized deals and offers to increase customer engagement and used strong calls to action. Digital marketers also noticed a remarkable increase of 23% in ad spending in Canada. From the previous year, there has been a major shift towards targeted and data-driven marketing strategies (eMarketer).In 2024, ecommerce brands faced intensified competition during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, leading to a 20% year-over-year increase in ad spend compared to 2023. Rising costs, including an 18% surge in CPC (cost per click), pushed businesses to diversify spending across platforms like TikTok, Amazon Ads, and programmatic channels. Brands embraced personalized dynamic creative optimization and SEO-focused strategies to manage the extended sales period effectively.

The impact of early bird deals and extended sales
Canadian retailers extended BFCM deals from mid-November into December, creating a month-long shopping event compared to the urgency-driven weekend in 2023. This shift allowed for more thoughtful purchases, eased logistics for retailers, and gave shoppers time to find the best bargains. With 75% of consumers starting their holiday shopping early, November sales grew by 2.2% from 2023, highlighting the success of this extended strategy (Retail Insider).

In-store enthusiasts and online deal-seekers made the most of the holiday sales
Although the 2024 holiday shopping season saw a marginal increase in online shopping, there is a significant segment of Canadians who like the in-store experience. Many Canadians opted to shop in-store to take advantage of the unique in-store festive/holiday season deals, celebratory ambience and exclusive promotions. In-store purchases were still at 34% of all holiday sales in 2024, having marginally dipped but remaining highly substantial (Source: Statista). Many shoppers are opting to research online and the shop in-store; this trend is unlikely to change anytime soon.
A key holiday season takeaway
No holiday season is complete without its share of challenges for marketers, and the 2024 holiday season was no exception. Global supply chain disruptions resulted in delays and shortages of certain high-demand products. The lesson learned? Early planning was the way to avoid disappointment for shoppers, and shopping at local businesses helped alleviate some of these challenges. Retailers learned that they must have solid inventory management, diversified supply chains, and communication to keep their customers informed and satisfied.
What we observed for our retail clients
With the extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales spilling over from November into December, our retail clients prepared early for holiday season communications and sales. For one major retail client, we observed aggressive competition and a strong digital presence, with high ad share sustained throughout November and into the first week of December. While year-over-year revenue remained stable, there was a dip in ROAS (return on ad spend) due to increased ad spending, as the primary objective was to maintain competitive visibility and avoid losing market share. Overall, the trend across retail clients mirrored this competitive intensity, with higher digital ad spends necessary to stay ahead in the marketplace.
The way forward
As the 2024 holiday season wraps up, we look back at a remarkable period of shopping, celebrations, and growth. Black Friday and Cyber Monday marked not only days of great deals but also a milestone in how Canadians approached holiday shopping.
The ones who embraced flexibility and, hence, integrated an in-store experience with an online one illustrate a growing trend that meets consumer needs and further informs retailer’s strategies on keeping pace with the expectations of the customer. Turning the page on the year’s biggest sales events, we see that, undoubtedly, this holiday season 2024 was more than a shopping spree – it’s the memories created, and it’s a wiser and more intentional buy.