Cyber Weekend Benchmarking Information: 2023 Software and SaaS Holiday Spend Report -
Q4 sales numbers usually outperform those of the other months due to the end of year holidays as well as their associated shopping seasons But how much does that trend translate to software and SaaS sales? Do they improve B2B sales too, or is it more of a benefit for B2C?
acts as a retailer that acts as a record-keeper for more than 3500 companies that use our platform every day to market digital goods globally. We've analyzed aggregate sales data to help you understand just how important Q4 can be for your software, SaaS, or other digital goods commercial.
The latest holiday trends might have started by offering Black Friday deals and spread through Cyber Monday, the entire weekend is now often called Cyber Weekend -- and sales throughout the quarter are generally strong as shoppers are getting ready for their many Christmas celebrations. Are you optimizing all possible Q4 sales opportunities for your software company?
Below, we'll cover:
About Our Data
Where are the Data Are From
The company supports more than 3500 businesses that help them sell digital products to more than 200 territories and countries around the world, but we've narrowed down the data we used for this report to keep it applicable to software as well as SaaS firms.
These data are specific to where the sales took place and not the location where the companies are located.
For the global statistics We selected eight nations that include including the United States, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia as well as China -- to get a broad view of global sales.
when you are Using the Data are From
The data below are pulled from 2018-2022 to give the most current information, providing trends that are constant over a 5-year timeframe as well as avoiding outliers that could skew the data unnecessarily.
We further use an index of seasonality to show the sales of each quarter or month against the year's weekly or monthly average.
US Year-End trends in SaaS and Software Purchases
We first looked at U.S. software and SaaS sales data from 2018-2022 to glean insights on quarterly and monthly sales trends over the last five years.
After calculating the monthly average and comparing the month's sales to that average to get a percentage. In the example above, if February shows a percentage of 90%, that indicates that it's 10% more expensive in terms of sales when compared with the monthly average. If, for example, November has a percent at 111% that indicates that its sales exceed by 11% the monthly average.
5YR average US SaaS and Software Sales per Month
Although sales peak in November, with 11 percent higher than the monthly average, sales for the entire quarter are at their highest all through the year. October is particularly high, with sales with a 4% increase and December being 8% more.
5YR average US SaaS as well Software sales by Quarter
Looking at the quarterly average the Q4 sales were higher by 8 percent which is enough to make each of the other three quarters are just below the average.
World Year-end Trends SaaS as well as Software Purchases
Going beyond the U.S., we combined data using the same characteristics from U.S., Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia, and China. This provides a more clear picture of how late-year software sales might change across the globe.
The bump actually increases in size.
5YR Global Average SaaS and Software sales by Month
Global sales jumped to an annual high of 16% during November, compared to the month-to-month average. Like above U.S. data above, November and December complete with the top quarter of the year with respective 4and 7 percent increases.
5YR Average Global SaaS and Software Sales per Quarter
When viewed from an annual perspective, Q4 is 9% higher than the quarter's average, once again enough to put the remaining three quarters to below the average.
Global Q4 quarter-end sales were just 1percent higher than the sales in the U.S. for the same period however, the November month saw an increase of 16% over that of the U.S.'s 11% increase for the same month- suggesting that November specifically represents a massive sales opportunity all over the world.
5YR Average SaaS and Software Sales per Month per country
More information on how each month breaks down by country, we parsed the information for eight nations we included in our global analysis. This is what monthly sales of software changes look like using five years of data from those countries: the United States (US), Canada (CA), Germany (DE), Great Britain (GB), India (IN), Brazil (BR), Australia (AU), and China (CN).
Particularly large lifts in countries like China and Germany in November point to an enormous potential for SaaS as well as software firms to make money in the fourth quarter, especially if you're trying to target those markets as part of a global expansion strategy.
In addition, although U.S. data suggest a less significant increase of 11% during November, remember this: North America accounts for a very large share of global software and SaaS revenues, with one research study showing 40% of 2022's worldwide software revenues that is attributed in North America, and an additional study reporting as high as 57.5 percentage of 2020 global SaaS market which is due to NA. Thus, a rise of 11% during November within NA U.S. could mean a lot more revenue if it's a slice of a larger piece.
B2C vs. B2B
Many companies that use to sell software internationally provide both B2C as well as B2B markets. Regardless of whether your SaaS company is focused on both or just one, it can be helpful to observe how sales performance differs between two market segments. The resulting information can help you decide how much to focus marketing and sales efforts in these areas, particularly when one market offers better chance.
The resulting data show the similar trends across the year. The fourth quarter was the strongest quarter for both segments.
B2C sales saw an average bump of 11% above the average for the quarter and is perhaps not surprising during a time of year that is known for its promotion of consumerism"consumer "consumer" is in the title.
Don't put too much faith in B2B sales in Q4. Although B2B revenue appears to be marginally more stable over the course of the year in comparison to B2C revenue, a 5 percentage increase in the fourth quarter is significant within a sometimes spending-driven segment that is still taking advantages of sales at the end of the year, regardless of whether a buyer is buying either for themselves or their business. Credit cards for corporate use are of course still wielded by lots of individuals -- buyers of software and may need to find a great deal, especially if rigid departmental budgets play a role in the purchase decision.
Additionally, some B2B shoppers could be looking to make use of more budgetary funds before the close of the year to ensure their budget is not cut the following year. They might be pushing teams or departments set up with the right technology before the start of the year. Business-specific instances like these could result in increased sales for B2B during Q4 despite the numerous interruptions to work during the holidays.
Cyber Week Strategies For SaaS and Software Companies
Are you wondering how to take advantage of that Q4 bump? Whatever your goal is, whether B2B or B2C shoppers Here are some strategic ways to increase software and SaaS sales before the end this year.
Give Partners Custom Coupon Codes
Plus you'll be able to better track how that sale promotion was able to perform compared with other coupons.
Do You Not Have Any Partners To Give Special Coupons to? Find Some!
If you're still not taking the advantage of partnerships with promotional partners this holiday season could bring new contacts. Search for SaaS and software businesses which offer products which complements your own. (For example, if you create a database application search for companies who produce front-end software.)
Alongside custom coupon codes provide the opportunity to trade Cyber Weekend promotions to each of their audiences through the use of emails, web banners, mentions on social media and other methods to help each company boost sales at the end of the year.
Send Your Own Prospects Email
Even if you don't decide to engage in partnership-related promotionsfor instance, if it's an even bigger project that you'll need additional time to plan sending out emails to your current prospect list is a relatively straightforward and simple method to carry out.
Prospects aren't able to benefit from deals they aren't aware of So don't depend solely on banners for your website to attract the attention of prospective customers when they visit your site. Get the visitors into your website with smart mailers about coming as well as current sales to get the attention of those who are.
Send Your Current Customers an Email
Like prospects, customers can't be over-sold when they're not aware about the holiday sales, neither.
Here are a handful potential opportunities for earning money that you can pursue within your current user base
- Add-ons for upselling. Analyze user data for customers that use your product the frequently or most generally, as they could be the most likely to require even more features and ease of use.
- Increase subscriptions by offering more options. Like downloading, if you are able to identify your product's most powerful customers, you can focus your efforts on those most likely to want more of your product.
- Change freemium users to paid subscribers by offering an irresistible offer. If the freemium model is an integral part of your business strategy, then a hefty holiday sale might provide the incentive to convert users who love what they can access to, yet realize they would really benefit from a lot more of them.
- upsells from individual subscriptions to group subscriptions and from team-based to enterprise subscriptions. It's not always easy to discover which users are also the evangelists for your products within their own businesses, however if you are able to gather contextual information about users (such as that which can be obtained by your internal salesforce) the fourth quarter of 2018 could be a great time to target organizations with some user penetration but you have the chance to gain many more.
- Cross-sell into entirely new items. If your model of business comprises a variety of standalone products, there's a big possibility to market the users of a product by offering offers to purchase the other in turn, and vice versa. The greater number of products you own, the more segmentation you can do, and the more possibilities you're able to take advantage of.
- Switch users from annual to monthly subscriptions. The English saying "A bird in a hand is worth two in the bush" frequently applies to business since the amount of revenue you can earn for your business right now might be better than slightly higher revenue that is distributed in a gradual manner over the next. Profit from buyers looking for bargains during Q4 by entice buyers with an attractive offer to save money in the long run by changing their monthly subscription to a year-long one.
Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms can be an excellent platform to commemorate holidays, and sharing festive posts from your business can work well.
Many social media platforms have advertising features that allow you to target users by geographies or by interests. Consider taking advantage of the possibility to display regional holiday advertisements within the relevant regions or even the capability to show ads to users who may have mentioned their desire to celebrate the holiday on the platform.
However, natural social media posts are often able to be seen by any users who are following you, regardless of location are also a great option to increase sales while not limiting views to a small portion. Be aware that if your followers or audience are very diverse the holiday-related posts you post are also likely to be so.
Offer More Aggressive discounts in the The Target Geos
If you have higher profitability in one particular area or you are looking to enter a new market, then promoting aggressive discounts in specific regions will help you take advantage of Cyber Weekend sales increases.
To implement this, use GeoIP-based elements on your marketing site to promote region-specific discount codes.
You can then use the Store Builder Library to automate the application of these code at checkout. This will help increase your conversion rates.
Localize Holiday Promotions
Although Cyber Weekend has become popular around the world, there are still local holidays that may be more profitable in each region or country that you're targeting. Holidays like Boxing Day can rival more U.S.-centric promotions (such like Black Friday and Cyber Monday) in countries such as Australia, the UK, Australia, and Canada.
Make sure you tailor your Christmas season promotions according to geography, so that you won't miss big opportunities in key regions.
What Can I Do?
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Knows that making your product available across more nations isn't enough -- it must be easy for your customers to make the decision to purchase.
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Another important aspect that our duties is the management of customer service. Your clients can begin by contacting us for assistance in resolving problems with purchasing and checkout, taxes, billing and subscriptions, downloads, and more.
