Black Friday Week (24. 11. – 30.11.) is behind us and the numbers show a clear trend: the overall market declined by 10% year-on-year, while total spending on paid advertising increased by more than 5%.
And although at first glance this doesn't sound optimistic, the reality is somewhat more complex.
This is an important signal: the customer is not converting less. They are just coming to shop this year in a different mood, with different expectations and a different budget. The declining trend from the 3rd quarter did not change even during the shopping holiday, and the eCommerce scene must start looking towards efficiency, data, and more targeted marketing investments.
E-commerce stores on BUXUS versus the rest of the market
While the market saw a decline of -10%, clients on the BUXUS eCommerce platform only fell by -5%. This double-digit difference is not accidental.
Martin Krupa, co-founder of ui42: “Our clients on the custom eCommerce platform have long benefited from a significantly faster and more stable e-shop environment, well-thought-out UX and CX standards, better data processing and automation, and our geographically tailored e-shop for the customer.”
In other words, while the market slowed down, BUXUS e-commerce stores slowed down significantly less. During the entire BF week, with a sample of more than 150 e-commerce stores, we recorded nearly 90,000 orders, with Black Friday itself (29.11.) accounting for 18.6% of them. Customers mostly bought between 22:00 - 23:00, when more than 15% of total Friday transactions were made, and the largest e-shop in terms of orders during BF week accounted for 60% of the total number.
GenAI continues to rewrite the rules
This year it was fascinating to watch how the new source of traffic, AI assistants, behaves. From a traffic perspective, it grew 16x, but from a purchase perspective, even 200x compared to Black Friday a year ago.
It's no coincidence. Today, customers reach e-commerce stores through AI assistants much more purposefully, not "just browsing," but already with the intention to buy. And where e-commerce stores have clean feeds, quality product content, and fast loading (yes, this is also AI-critical), AI is already helping to generate sales.
Why GEO is more important than ever
One of the most significant changes we've seen this year is the importance of geographic targeting. Tools and channels that work with precise geographic relevance grew the most.
Simply put: AI + GEO is becoming the new marketing minimum. AI assistants recommend products based on availability, delivery, local relevance, and parameters that were not previously in the spotlight.
And that's why it is becoming important to have:
- quality product data,
- accurate information about stock and availability,
- locally adapted feeds,
- and UX that doesn't deter the customer in the first two seconds.
It is a new competitive tool that e-commerce stores can use to slow down the impacts of customer demand stagnation, consolidation, and rising marketing costs with the entry of new players into the European market.
Summary of the year 2025
Black Friday fell by 10%, but:
- Buxus clients only fell by 5%,
- The average conversion rate remained the same at 2.25%,
- shopping behavior is slowly shifting to AI recommendations,
- and GEO accuracy is starting to decide who grows and who stagnates.
Martin Krupa: “This year was not about massive discounts and extreme breaking of last year's records, which we got used to since the COVID pandemic. It was about whether the e-shop is technologically and data-ready for how customers actually shop in 2025.”
And many of our clients have shown that they are.
Reliable customer support 24/7
Our priority is to achieve customer satisfaction, especially when sales pressure reaches extreme levels. This year, we provided continuous support for dozens of domains to ensure every sale and interaction on e-commerce stores went absolutely smoothly and without delay. Our support team was ready to intervene swiftly with any questions or issues, ensuring stability at a level of 99.99% and performance, even in the most intense sales moments.
ui42 has been proving for almost 29 years that it is an e-commerce leader not only in Slovakia. Brands like Kondela, Be Lenka, Koku, Feedo, Bezvavlasy, Najšport, and Prodoshop trust us.
Number of domains for which we provided 24/7 support: 26
In YoY, we compared the same set of e-commerce stores on the same domains. We did not include those e-commerce stores that migrated to CMS BUXUS between BF 2024 and BF 2025 in the comparison.
