Affiliate marketing Black Friday & Cyber Monday round-up

We asked APMA members for their Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 insights…

Impact.com

James Bennie, AVP Customer Success (EMEA)

• Cyber Weekend spend across EMEA +43% YoY

• A major clothing marketplace +30% YoY in spend.

• A leading footwear brand +80% YoY.

• The top-performing brand more than doubled revenue YoY through the channel.

• 8 of the top 10 spending brands on the platform grew revenue YoY.

Genie Ventures

Rachel Said, Head of Affiliate

• Earlier advertiser promotions appear to have reduced consumer appetite for Cyber Monday.

• Internal analysis indicated:
  → Black Friday strongest day
  → Sunday weaker, likely due to good weather
  → Cyber Monday less pronounced versus previous years

• Clients who launched very early (late October / Halloween) saw the strongest outcomes but only when paired with trust messaging assuring customers it was the best price.

• Recommended strategy: invest earlier in PPC & Paid Social to build audiences before CPMs rise. Requires patience as early COS is higher, but pays off when consumers pre-decide purchases.

• Affiliate activation example via Linkby + The Independent:
  → Traffic surged 70% in the second half of November
  → 6–9 day click-to-sale window (vs. daily average)
  → ROI of 3 on prospecting-style content
  → Featured in AI Overviews, increasing visibility

• Key theme: Brands that performed best had diversified, joined-up strategies across paid social, PPC, CSS, and transparent affiliate partnerships.

Awin

Richard Towey, Global Content & Communications Manager

• Advertisers shifting promotions earlier appears to have softened Cyber Monday demand.

• Awin network performance:
  → November sales +1.5% YoY
  → Black Friday +3% YoY
  → Cyber Monday –14% YoY

• Cyber Monday’s share of Cyber Weekend sales declined significantly YoY, compared with a +4% increase in 2024.

• Singles Day (11 Nov) saw +31% sales volume YoY, showing consumer attention shifting earlier.

• Pets & pet care +32% — strongest-growing subsector.

• Fewer voucher-driven sales pre-Black Friday as advertisers withheld aggressive discounts.

• Tenancy spend +26% YoY, totalling £23m in the three months pre-November.
  → Average brand spend £4,082
  → Demonstrates brands investing early to secure placements outside pure CPA.

Adtraction

Insights from 1,700+ ecommerce programmes across 12 European markets

• Black Friday still the strongest single day, but sales were more evenly spread across Black Week.

• Sunday showed unusually high shopping activity, indicating wider weekend purchasing.

• November overall saw elevated, steady conversion levels, blurring the edges of “Black Week.”

• Black Week typically yields 3× normal weekly sales volume.

• AOV consistent throughout the day, with only a slight lunchtime peak — showing high-value shopping is continuous.

• CEO Simon Gustafson:
  → Black Week is now part of a longer, fluid November shopping season, not a single peak.

Skimlinks

Angus Quinn, Director of Marketing, EMEA & APAC

• Consumers behaved in a more selective and value-driven way.

• Strongest categories:
  → Clothing & Accessories
  → Furniture & Décor
  → Appliances
  → Children’s categories
  → Christmas/gifting

• High-value baskets concentrated in trusted high-street and department-store brands.

• Home-relaxation & sleep-related purchases surged as shoppers timed big-ticket buys for Cyber Weekend.

• Fastest-growing brands indicate appetite for affordable luxuries and premium giftables:
  • Joe & Seph’s
  • Lulu Guinness
  • DeMellier
  • ROKA London
  • Spanx

• Signals a shift toward premium, personality-led shopping during peak periods.

Tradedoubler

• UK Cyber Weekend delivered the platform’s strongest performance ever.

• Long-running programmes saw:
  → Order value +28%
  → AOV +9.5%

• Categories dominating spend (~85%): Retail, Electronics, Home & Garden, Fashion.

• Travel saw a surprise surge, confirming Cyber Week is no longer retail-only.

• Demand spread more evenly across the four days:
  → Thanksgiving → Black Friday uplift fell from 40% to 30% YoY.

• Channel dynamics:
  • CSS partners grew strongly as shoppers intensified comparison behaviour.
  • Influencer & social partners more than doubled YoY.
  • Cashback share declined only because other channels grew faster.
  • Voucher partners remained stable and important for closing conversions.

Zilch

Key behavioural insights:

• Peak hour: 10am

• Peak minute: 4:46pm

• 330 purchases per minute at peak; ~275/min average 9am–9pm.

Retailers with biggest uplift:

Nike, Lego, Temu, Dunelm, Tesco, TikTok Shop, Wayfair, Booking.com, Secret Sales, Bicester Village, AO.com, Tesco Mobile.

Bestselling products:

Beats earbuds, Ring doorbells, Dehumidifiers, Dyson handheld vacuums, Hiking boots, Advent calendars, Electric blankets, Paco Rabanne fragrances, LEGO sets, 32-inch TVs, Kindle.

Payment method trends:

• Fastest growing: Pay over 3 months (+68%)

• Most used: Pay over 6 weeks

In-store uplift:

• Despite UK high-street sales –2%, Zilch in-store retailers achieved +17.5% uplift.

January buying intent:

• 79% of Zilch customers say they participate in January sales.