What BFCM 2024 Revealed About the Next Phase of eCommerce
Holiday shoppers showed up differently this season.
Yes, the long weekend broke records. $41.1B in online sales! But beneath that headline number were meaningful shifts in when people shopped, how they moved through checkout, and what convinced them to convert. These changes aren’t just interesting data points; they may be early indicators of how eCommerce will operate in Q1 and beyond.
From our vantage point at Total Commerce Partners, this wasn’t a louder version of past years. It was structurally different. And brands that treat it as “business as usual” risk missing what’s coming next.
Below are the key shifts we observed and why they matter.
BFCM Is No Longer a Moment, It’s a Window
Cyber Monday used to be the gravitational center of holiday shopping. This year, that gravity weakened.
While the overall weekend set new records, Cyber Monday shopper count declined year over year (64.4M vs. 73.1M in 2023). At the same time, Saturday and Sunday saw massive gains, signaling that shoppers spread their purchases across the entire weekend rather than waiting for one designated day.
Several forces drove this behavior:
- Thanksgiving landed late (Nov 28), pushing Cyber Monday to Dec 2.
- A shorter runway to Christmas increased urgency.
- Promotions started earlier in November. And shoppers responded.
In practice, this means BFCM has evolved into a week-long, distributed shopping period, where Sunday matters nearly as much as Monday.
We saw brands that acknowledged this reality outperform those that treated Cyber Monday as the singular peak. Moscot’s aggressive Cyber Sunday push is a good example, meeting shoppers where momentum already existed instead of trying to force it into a legacy calendar.
Insight: Brands that continue planning BFCM as a two-day sprint are planning for a version of eCommerce that no longer exists.
Mobile Is No Longer a Channel, It’s the Default
This year, 63% of Cyber Monday purchases happened on phones, up from 55% in 2023. That’s not a marginal increase; it’s a structural one.
Mobile is no longer where shoppers browse and then “complete later.” It’s where decisions are made, carts are built, and purchases are finalized. This often happens quickly, impulsively, and with limited tolerance for friction.
From what we observed, brands with slow mobile load times, overly complex checkout flows, or poor cart visibility felt the impact immediately.
Insight: Mobile optimization is no longer about best practices, it’s about survival. The mobile checkout is the checkout.
AI-Assisted Shopping Crossed the Trust Threshold
We have been working with AI partners for months to develop a 12-week AI readiness program that starts in early January. Watch this space for more information on this in early January!
One of the most striking signals this season was the explosion of AI-assisted shopping behavior. AI chat traffic increased 1,950% year over year on Cyber Monday.
This wasn’t casual experimentation. Shoppers weren’t testing AI, they were using it to make decisions faster, reduce uncertainty, and navigate crowded product assortments.
Consumers are increasingly comfortable asking AI assistants which product is right for them, how items compare, and what best fits their needs. That comfort fundamentally alters the funnel. Discovery, consideration, and validation are collapsing into a single interaction.
Insight: Brands that integrate AI as a true shopping assistant, not just a support tool, will shorten time to purchase and capture higher-intent demand.
Promotion Psychology Is Shifting and Subtle Details Matter
Discount depth alone is no longer the differentiator. How the discount is presented matters just as much.
One notable experiment came from Calpak, which pre-discounted prices directly on product pages and then layered an additional 10% code on top. Despite the stronger headline savings, the approach underperformed expectations.
Our working theory is that shoppers still want the visual confirmation moment, seeing the discount applied in the cart, to fully trust the deal. Without that moment, promotions can feel abstract or unverified, regardless of the actual savings.
This aligns with a broader trend we’ve seen: transparency and validation drive confidence more than clever mechanics.
Insight: Shoppers don’t just want a deal, they want proof of the deal.
What This Means for Q1 and Beyond
Taken together, these shifts point to a clear reality:
- Demand is pulling earlier
- Shopping is increasingly mobile-first
- AI is becoming embedded in decision-making
- Trust signals at checkout matter more than ever
Q1 winners won’t be the brands who simply extend holiday tactics into January. They’ll be the ones who internalize these behavioral changes and adjust how they plan, build, and communicate across the entire funnel.
What We’re Watching Next
The shifts we saw this holiday season aren’t limited to 2024. They’re early indicators of how eCommerce is being rebuilt in real time.
In the coming months, our team at Total Commerce Partners will be sharing deeper perspectives on what these behaviors point to as we look ahead to eCommerce in 2026. We’ll be exploring how AI continues to compress the funnel, how search and discovery are evolving beyond traditional platforms, why pricing transparency and promotion structure are becoming critical trust signals, and how convenience, not brand loyalty alone, is increasingly driving repeat purchase.
This holiday season offered a preview of what’s ahead. The next phase of commerce will be defined by brands that adapt early, test aggressively, and rethink long-held assumptions about how consumers shop.
We’ll be publishing ongoing insights as these trends unfold. Follow along as we break down what’s coming next and what it means for brands building for the future.
Watch this space.
