Pacvue

Black Friday 2025 is officially behind us, and our data team has been crunching the numbers to understand how the biggest shopping weekend of the year kicked off on Amazon. Here’s what we’re seeing so far:  🔥 Competition intensified across Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands. Sponsored Products CPCs rose +6.7% DoD and +7.6% WoW, reflecting strong bidding pressure as brands moved aggressively into peak-day auctions. Sponsored Brands saw even sharper day-of pressure, with CPCs +9.6% DoD and +13.5% WoW, signaling heavier demand for premium brand placements. 📈 Budgets surged heading into Black Friday. Sponsored Products spend surged +80.5% DoD and +87.9% WoW as advertisers ramped up investments from lead-in to the main event. Sponsored Brands spend nearly doubled DoD (+87.1%) and WoW (+89.9%) as brands leaned in. 👀 Traffic jumped, while engagement and conversion reflected heavy browsing. Sponsored Products saw a significant increase in traffic, contributing to softer engagement rates as search results became more crowded. CVR showed a modest day-over-day lift (+4.5%), while WoW trends reflected heavy Black Friday browsing. Sponsored Brands followed a similar pattern, with stronger day-of engagement paired with softer WoW conversion (-7.9%) as shoppers explored deals before committing. 💰 AOV climbed as shoppers made bigger purchase decisions. Average order value for Sponsored Products was up +5.0% DoD and +21.4% WoW, while Sponsored Brands AOV increased +12.7% WoW, showing that shoppers made larger purchase decisions once they were ready to buy. Both formats experienced a YoY drop in AOV, likely due to deeper discounts this year. 📊 Amazon DSP investment climbed and efficiency improved. DSP saw higher investment (+11.0% YoY), and efficiency improved, with eCPM up +18.1% YoY and ROAS up +3.7%. This reflects more competitive but ultimately more effective display auctions compared to last year. 🛍️ Category performance highlights: Early category-level data shows meaningful movement. Toys & Games and Office Products saw engagements rates more than double YoY, while maintaining competitive CPCs, a sign of strong ad relevance and efficient optimization. Beauty & Personal Care emerged as the highest-spend category (+16.8% YoY), with engagement gains despite rising CPCs. Electronics also posted strong YoY spend growth, paired with significantly higher engagement as shoppers browsed heavily discounted big-ticket items. We’ll continue monitoring performance as the rest of Cyber 5 unfolds. More insights coming soon!

Happy Black Friday! As this year’s Cyber 5 weekend kicks off, our team is keeping a close eye on retailer activity, advertising trends, and shopper behavior. Here’s what’s defining this year’s event (so far): 1️⃣ Sharper hour-level pacing. Brands went into the week front-loading budgets during lead-in and day-of activity, with far less emphasis on lead-out than in years past. And that lines up with what we're seeing today:  • Brands are shifting quickly into conversion-heavy tactics • More hour-by-hour pacing adjustments as traffic spikes hit throughout the morning and early afternoon  • Lower-funnel formats are being prioritized while awareness-focused tactics stay tight    2️⃣ Rising competition across retailers. Amazon DSP CPMs are up an estimated 8-15% so far, and Sponsored Products volume is trending up, up, up. On Walmart, Sponsored Products placements have moved up the homepage, increasing both visibility and competition.    3️⃣ AI everywhere. As expected, AI is playing a big role this year, for shoppers, brands, and retailers:  • Brands are leaning into AMC-powered Sponsored Product audiences to re-engage searchers and cart-adders  • Amazon is surfacing new AI-generated prompts within Sponsored Products and Brands  • ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout and personalized holiday buying guides are showing up more across shopper journeys   4️⃣ Shoppers are doing more comparison shopping before buying. Consumers are taking extra time to compare products and deals across retailers, and value-forward offers are performing best. We’re seeing:  • Stronger engagement on real discounts (vs. inflated list prices)  • Higher click-through on bundles and price-per-unit wins  • Slower initial purchase decisions but stronger conversion when the value messaging is clear   5️⃣ Retailers are surfacing more curated discovery experiences. The digital shelf looks different this year:  • More curated browse aisles  • More mid-fold Sponsored Brands placements  • Deal modules refreshing more frequently  • Stronger personalization that is surfacing products tied to shoppers’ recent views or past purchases We’ll be watching to see how the rest of the weekend plays out (and we’ll share more real-time insights as we do). What trends are you seeing so far? Let us know in the comments!

Cyber 5 is almost (or already) here! 🛍️ We tapped industry experts J. William Margaritis, Garrett Dale, Fred Seddon, Andrea K. Leigh, Andrew Lipsman, Lauren Livak Gilbert, and Scot Wingo to get some insights on what we can expect this year. Swipe through for their hot takes 👇 And be sure to follow Pacvue's LinkedIn for live Cyber 5 updates!

🦃 Turkey, football… and impulse buys. That’s Thanksgiving weekend 2025! This year, make sure your brand gets from the couch to the cart before your competition does — with Discovery Commerce. Here’s your Cyber 5 game plan: 1️⃣ Advertise what’s actually in stock across your retail media networks. 2️⃣ Use social to spark intent (TikTok may inspire — but shoppers buy where they feel comfy). 3️⃣ Let retail media seal the deal. Don’t leave anything on the table this holiday season. 🍽️ Be sure to download our Cyber 5 Prep Checklist for more proven strategies for winning this weekend: https://lnkd.in/ga2wt5yu

At unBoxed, Melissa Burdick sat down with Celeste Donahoe to discuss why brands should get started now activating on Macy’s premium ad inventory via Amazon RAS to win this holiday season and beyond. In this short interview, they cover why this opportunity matters, how it fits into the broader retail media landscape, and the exclusive incentives currently available from Amazon Ads and Pacvue for advertisers who take action today. Watch the full interview to learn more, and don’t miss our December 11 Amazon RAS Webinar, where Amazon, Pacvue, and Macy's Media Network will come together to share: ☑️ Real brand case studies ☑️ Best practices for activation ☑️ A live demo to help you get started Register now to explore this exciting opportunity and take your holiday strategy to the next level: https://lnkd.in/g-Hk2xYi

🎉 Happy 20 years to Cyber Monday! 🎉 November 21 marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of Cyber Monday - time flies when you're online shopping! Kaitlyn Collins and Andrew Lipsman take a walk down memory lane and then take a look at what we can expect from Cyber Monday 2025. Watch now 👇 📌 P.S. Stay tuned for our 2025 Cyber 5 Benchmark Report in early December. We’ll sift through all the data to reveal how and where advertising dollars were spent and what it means for your brand.  

💄 Beauty brands are entering the most competitive season of the year — are you ready to win the digital shelf?     Our new report, Winning the Beauty Category: Market Intelligence and Insights That Drive Growth, breaks down the data and trends shaping Beauty & Personal Care across Amazon, Walmart, and beyond.    Here’s a sneak peek of what’s inside:    🛍️ Beauty’s new battleground: Discover what’s fueling growth across the world’s top marketplaces. 📈 Retail media momentum: See where ad spend is surging, and where efficiency is strongest. 🔍 Evolving shopper behavior: Learn how discovery-driven search is reshaping the path to purchase. 🏆 Winning strategies: Find out how leading brands are turning cultural moments into measurable growth.     👉 Download the full report: https://lnkd.in/dFq89_vi 

Big win for Pacvue! 🏆 We’re proud to be honored by the 2025 The Stevie® Awards for Women in Business for our Incrementality Console, recognized for transforming how brands measure and grow in commerce media. Huge congratulations to our co-founder and President, Melissa Burdick, also named Best Female Entrepreneur this year. Thank you to our amazing team and clients for making innovation like this possible, and for continuing to raise the bar for what’s next in retail and commerce media! 🚀

Cyber 5 is coming — are your campaigns ready to perform smarter, not just harder? Most brands look at campaign results week to week. But what if you could plan based on five years of customer insights? With Pacvue’s AMC reporting and 5-year lookback window, you can: 📊 Analyze lifetime value and repeat purchase behavior 🧠 Understand how products are bought together with basket analysis 🎯 Build smarter audiences — like re-engaging past high-value holiday shoppers This Cyber 5, make every impression count. Turn data into strategy, and strategy into profit. That’s Power, by Pacvue. 💥

Looking back on an incredible week at Amazon unBoxed in Nashville! The Pacvue team had a fantastic time connecting with partners, clients, and industry leaders as we explored the latest innovations from Amazon Ads. From unified campaign tools to AI-powered creative solutions, this year’s announcements show how fast retail media continues to evolve. Our very own Alicia Marshia breaks it all down in this quick recap video, sharing key takeaways from unBoxed 2025 and what they mean for brands heading into the new year 👇 We’re energized by what’s ahead and proud to be at the forefront of helping brands grow smarter with Amazon Ads!