Cyber Weekend Benchmarking Data: 2023 SaaS and Software Holiday Spend Report
Q4 sales numbers usually outperform the rest of the year because of the holidays at the end of the year as well as their associated shopping seasons -- but what percentage of that increase carry over into Software and SaaS sales? Do they improve B2B sales, too? Or does it just give B2C benefit?
serves as a merchant in charge for more than 350 companies who use our platform daily to sell digital products globally. We've analyzed aggregate sales data to help you understand how crucial Q4 could be to your SaaS, software or any other digital good businesses.
While modern holiday shopping trends might have started with Black Friday deals and spread through Cyber Monday but the whole weekend is often referred to as Cyber Weekend -- and sales throughout the quarter generally are strong as consumers are getting ready for their many Christmas celebrations. Are you maximizing all potential sales in Q4 for your software-related business?
Below, we'll cover:
About Our Data
Where are the Data Are From
is used by more than 3500 businesses in helping to sell digital goods in over 200 territories and countries around the world, but we've narrowed down the data we used for this report in order to keep it applicable to software and SaaS companies.
The information below is particular to where transactions took place, not where the companies are located.
To get the overall statistics, we selected eight countries that include including the United States, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia and China -- to get a broad view of sales around the world.
If you are Using the Data are From
The following data are gathered from the years 2018-2022 in order to provide most recent information while providing trends that are consistent across a five-year period and avoiding any outliers skewing the results unnecessarily.
Additionally, we use an index of seasonality to show every quarter's or month's sales with respect to the year's weekly or monthly average.
US Year-End trends SaaS as well as Software Purchases
We first looked into U.S. software and SaaS sales data from 2018-2022 to gain insight into quarterly and monthly sales trends across the last five years.
When we calculated a monthly average and comparing each month to the average in order to calculate an approximate percentage. For example, if February's percentage is 90%, that indicates that it's 10% more expensive in terms of sales when compared with the average monthly. If November shows a percentage of 111%, that implies that the sales of November are 11% higher than the monthly average.
5YR average US SaaS and Software Sales per Month
The peak sales are in November, with 11 percent higher than the monthly average and sales across the entire quarter have the highest levels throughout the year. The highest sales are in October, with a 4% increase and December being 8% more.
5YR average US SaaS and Software Revenues per Quarter
Looking at the average of quarterly sales Sales for Q4 are up by 8% which is enough to make all three quarters fall below the average.
World Year-end Trends in SaaS and Software Purchases
Beyond and beyond the U.S., we combined information with similar variables from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia and China. This provides a more clear understanding of the way late-year software sales might vary across the world.
The bump actually grows larger.
5YR Average Global SaaS and Software sales by Month
Global sales jumped to an annual high of 16% higher in November compared to the month-to-month average. Similar to this U.S. data above, October and December round out with the top quarter of the year, with 4and 7 percent rises.
5YR Average Global Software and SaaS Sales by Quarter
From an annual perspective The Q4 numbers are 9% more than the average for Q4, once again that high enough to make the remaining three quarters below the median.
Global Q4 quarter-end sales were merely 1percent higher than the sales from the U.S. for the same period however, the November month saw a rise of 16% compared to those in the U.S.'s 11% growth for the same monthwhich suggests that November represents a massive sales opportunity all over the world.
5YR Average SaaS and Software Sales per Month per country
To get more details of how each month's sales break out by country we analyzed the monthly data for the 8 countries that we included in our global review. Here's what monthly software sales variations look like based on five years of information for 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 an enormous opportunity for SaaS and software companies to make money in the fourth quarter, especially if you're looking at these countries as part of an overall expansion plan.
In addition, although U.S. data suggest a less significant increase of 11% for November, it is important to remember that North America accounts for a significant significant portion of worldwide software and SaaS sales. One study revealing 43% of 2022 total software sales that is attributed in North America, and another reporting a share of approximately 57.5 percent of 2020 world SaaS market attributed to the NA. Thus, a increase of 11% in November, in North America in the U.S. could mean a lot more revenue if it's a slice of a much larger pie.
B2C vs. B2B
A lot of companies who sell software internationally offer simultaneously B2C and B2B markets. Regardless of no matter if your SaaS firm is focused only on one or both is important to keep track of how the Q4 sales trends differ between the two market segments. The resulting information can aid you in deciding how to focus marketing and sales efforts in these areas, particularly when one market offers greater opportunity.
The data that resulted show identical general trend throughout the year. The fourth quarter was the strongest quarter for both of the segments.
B2C sales recorded an average rise of 11% above the quarterly average, which is perhaps unsurprising given the fact that this season is known for promoting consumerism -- "consumer" is in the wording.
But don't sleep on B2B sales in Q4. While B2B sales appear slightly more stable throughout the year as compared to B2C revenues, a five percentage increase in the fourth quarter is notable in a spending-driven segment that is still taking benefit of deals at the end of the year regardless of whether a consumer buys for themselves or their company. Corporate credit cards are of course still wielded by lots of individuals -- people who are shopping for software and may still want a good deal in particular if tight budgets for departments are an element in their purchase decisions.
In addition, B2B buyers might be seeking to utilize more budgetary funds before the year's end so that their budget is not reduced in the coming year. They might be pushing teams or departments to set up with the right equipment before the start of the year. Business-specific instances like these could contribute to increased B2B sales in Q4 despite the many delays in work due to the holiday season.
Cyber Weekend Strategies for SaaS and Software Companies
Are you wondering how to take advantage of that increase in Q4? Regardless of whether you're targeting B2B or B2C customers, here are some tactical strategies for boosting sales of software and SaaS sales by the end in the calendar year.
Offer Partners Custom Coupon Discount Codes
In addition, you'll have the ability to monitor how the sales campaign performed in comparison to other coupons.
Don't Have Partners to Give Special Coupons to? Locate Some!
If you're not yet taking advantage of promotional partnerships, the holiday season can create new partnerships. Look for other SaaS and software companies with products that compliments yours. (For instance, if for example you develop a database software, look for companies that make front end tools.)
Besides custom coupon codes, provide the opportunity to trade Cyber Weekend promotions to each audience in the form of newsletter messages, website banners, mentions on social media and other methods to help each company boost sales at the end of the year.
Contact Your Prospects
Even if you choose not to go after partnership opportunities -for instance, if it's an even bigger project that you'll need more time to plan for Emailing your existing prospect list is a relatively simple and quick method to carry out.
Prospects can't take advantage of deals they aren't aware of Don't just rely on banners for your website to attract the attention of potential buyers on a visit to your website. Get them to your website with smart email messages about upcoming or current offers to draw the attention of those who are.
Send Your Current Customers an Email
Just like prospects, customers can't be over-sold when they're not aware about holiday promotions, either.
Here are just a few of the profitable opportunities you could target within the existing users you have:
- Upsell add-ons. Analyze user data for customers who use your products the frequently or most generally, as they could be most likely to want additional features as well as accessibility.
- Increase subscriptions by offering more options. Like downloads, if you can identify your product's most powerful users, then you can target those most likely to want more from the product.
- convert freemium customers into paid subscriptions with an irresistible sales. If the freemium model is an integral part of your business model, a successful Christmas sale could be the lever to finally bring in customers who are enthralled by their access to, yet realize they would really benefit from a lot more of them.
- Upsell from individual subscriptions to group subscriptions and from team-based to enterprise subscriptions. It may not be easy to find out which power users are also evangelists for your product at 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) then Q4 is an ideal time to reach out to organizations with 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 possibility to market the base of one product with deals to buy the next in turn, and the reverse is true. If you're able to offer more products and the greater segmentation you can do, and the more opportunities you have.
- Switch users from month-to-year subscriptions. It is the English saying "A bird in the hand is worth two birds in the bush" frequently applies to business because the revenue that is available to your business today could be more valuable than slightly higher revenue that is distributed gradually over the course of the year. Take advantage of buyers being in a shopping mindset at the end of Q4: tempt them with a great offer to save money in the long run by changing their monthly subscription to a yearly one.
Leverage Social Media
Social media is the perfect platform for celebrating events, so sharing holiday-themed posts from your business can be a natural fit.
Numerous social media platforms provide advertising services that can focus on users according to geography or interests. You should consider taking advantage of the ability to display regional holiday advertisements in applicable regions, or to display ads to users who may have mentioned their interests in the holiday on the platform.
However, natural social media content are often able to be seen by all users who are following you, regardless of location can also be a good method of spreading sales, without limit the number of views you can get to a specific segment. Keep in mind, however, that if you have followers or an the audience you are targeting is very broad and diverse, then your seasonal organic posts must be as well.
Give More Exciting Coupons for Geos. Geos
If you experience greater profitability within a specific region, or you are looking to get into a different market, promoting more competitive discounts in certain regions will help you benefit from Cyber Weekend sales increases.
In order to implement this, make use of GeoIP-based components on your site to highlight regional-specific discount codes.
Then use 's Store Builder Library to automate the application of these coupons during checkout. This can improve your conversion rate.
Localize Holiday Promotions
Although Cyber Weekend has become popular around the world, there are still local celebrations that could be more profitable in the specific location or country you're trying to reach. Holidays like Boxing Day can rival more U.S.-centric specials (such like Black Friday and Cyber Monday) for countries like the UK, Australia, and Canada.
Make sure you tailor your Christmas season promotions by geography so you don't miss out on big opportunities in key regions.
How Can Help
Global Payments: Localized Languages, currencies, and payment methods
is aware that just making your product available to more people doesn't suffice. It needs to be effortless for your customers to decide whether to buy.
Global Tax Management We don't have to worry about Taxes
Consumer Support Management: Contact Us!
Another important aspect that our tasks is customer support management. Your clients can begin by contacting us to help them solve issues with checkout and purchasing the tax system, calculating and billing subscriptions, downloads, and more.
