Black Friday has become an annual institution for shoppers keen to bag a bargain, and could explain the huge drop in demand for most brands as people wait for the weekend to make their big purchases. In the Beauty sector, fans’ judgement of Kylie Jenner’s response to the Astroworld tragedy saw her cosmetic sales slump.

Performance Marketing World, in partnership with MediaVision, brings you your regular Digital Demand Tracker – a source of data around online search trends.

Here’s what the data shows for the week commencing 11 November 2021...

Market demand by sector

Wardrobes across the country have clearly reached peak ‘loungewear’, as searches for this and ‘pyjamas’ plummeted by 63% and 41% accordingly. 

Instead, holidays and celebrations were on people’s minds as interest in swimsuits soared to 76%, and searches for ‘party dresses’ rose to 312%.

Winter sun destinations in the Travel sector remained popular with the top five search increases including Benidorm (451%), Mexico holidays (129%), Cape Verde Holidays (170%), Thailand Holidays (85%) and Turkey Holidays (65%).

Back in the UK and basking in the COP26 afterglow, Scottish property was in demand, with searches for flats to rent in Glasgow (where the environmental summit was held) up 225% and houses for sale in Falkirk up 264%.

Brand demand by sector

In the Beauty sector, only a few brands – including Lush, Elemis and Estée Lauder – showed increased market demand as people held out for Black Friday deals. The general downward trend across most sectors, including Homeware, Supermarkets and Tech & Goods should be short-lived with bigger gains to be made when sales open on Friday 26 November.

Kylie Jenner stopped promoting her make-up and fashion lines after fans were unimpressed with her social media posts following the Astroworld tragedy. Ten people died in a crush at the music festival, which was founded by Jenner’s partner Travis Scott. Demand for Kylie Cosmetics was subsequently down 85% this week. 

In Fashion, press criticism of Chinese clothing company Shein over labour conditions and its environmental impact has done nothing to diminish its dominance in the sector – the fast-fashion giant saw an uplift of 95%.

On the other side, retailers of smarter clothing gained some momentum – perhaps fuelled by a recent transition from home to office working. Lavish Alice, Moss Bros, House of CB and Karen Millen were up between 78 and 299%.

Travel searches continued to grow, with Butlin's and Premier Inn especially popular for domestic destinations, while property portals fell out of favour – only PrimeLocation saw an increase of 22%.

Louis Venter, Managing Partner of MediaVision, said brands that plan well for Black Friday will more than make up for the slump in proceeding sales: “The extreme drop in demand for some brands could be put down to shoppers waiting for heavy discounting around Black Friday. Brands who have a consistent presence throughout the year and prepare a strong Black Friday offering may reap the rewards, as customer loyalty and the biggest shopping event of the year converge.”

All data was sourced from MediaVision’s Digital Demand Tracker, which can be found here