We just made it through the biggest week of the year...the chaos, the late nights, the dashboards, the “refresh-refresh-refresh”, Monday’s Shopify bugs...
Some brands crushed it. Some barely held on. And some walked away with record revenue…but also a strange feeling that something underneath wasn’t quite right.
And that’s the part nobody talks about.
BFCM gives you a spike, but it also exposes the cracks you’ve been ignoring the other 11 months of the year.
The hidden leaks.
The operational drag.
The systems that don’t break under pressure, but definitely bend.
So in today’s newsletter, we’re doing two things:
Looking at what really happened this BFCM (beyond the headlines)
Making sure you don’t carry the same inefficiencies into 2026, which is why I’m hosting a workshop that every 7-figure brand should attend.
Let's dive in. 👇
Topics we'll cover today:
💠 The 2026 Profit Reset (Live Workshop)
💠 BFCM: Record Sales or a Warning Sign?
💠 Turn BFCM Shoppers into Loyal Customers
💠 Top Podcast Episodes of 2025
The 2026 Profit Reset (Live Workshop)
Another year is winding down… but here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Most 7-figure brands will walk into January with the exact same problems they had in October.
Same leaks.
Same plateaus.
Same inefficiencies.
And then wonder why Q1 feels like pushing a boulder uphill.
That’s why I’m hosting something I genuinely believe every 7-figure founder should attend:
Because here’s the reality I keep seeing this year:
Brands aren’t struggling because their ads are bad.
They’re struggling because their system is leaking profit in places they can’t see.
Inside this session, I’ll walk you through:
→ The 3 biggest profit leaks 7-figure brands are carrying into 2026
Things that silently drain margin every month, and compound if you don’t fix them before Q1.
→ A simple 4-step “Q1 Profit Plan”
So you walk into January with clarity, direction, and a focused 90-day execution path, not chaos.
If you’re a founder, operator, or lean team heading into 2026 with inconsistent performance, rising costs, or a system that feels heavier than it should…this hour might be the highest ROI thing you do all month.
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BFCM: Record Sales or a Warning Sign?
Another Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend is in the books, and here's what you should know:
📈 Revenue: BFCM 2025 vs. last year
According to Adobe Analytics, US online spending on Cyber Monday 2025 reached about $14.2 billion, up roughly 6.3% YoY from 2024.
Combined with Black Friday, which Adobe pegged at $11.8 billion, the 2025 BFCM weekend looks like one of the strongest ever.
From the platform side, Shopify reports that its merchants’ gross sales over the BFCM period spiked significantly (relative to their prior benchmark), confirming broad strength across many DTC players.
📦 Orders & Volume: Did people buy more, or just spend more?
The raw dollar growth seems real, but the overall narrative suggests shoppers weren’t necessarily buying more items. According to Adobe/retail-industry reporting, many shoppers traded volume for value: spending more per item, but purchasing fewer items overall.
That pattern aligns with what analysts are calling “strategic shopping”: consumers scanning deals, using AI-powered tools to compare products, and then placing more selective, high-intent orders rather than loading carts with impulse buys.
🛍️ What people actually bought: Categories that won
For 2025’s Cyber Monday, early data from Adobe and multiple retail-industry sources show electronics and apparel among the top-performing categories. Shopify shows something different: Cosmetics, clothing tops & pants, activewear, fitness & nutrition.
This suggests what we’ve suspected: even in an inflation-aware consumer climate, categories with strong perceived value — gadgets, wearables, wardrobe staples — remain attractive. The “value over impulse” shift doesn’t exclude higher-ticket items.
🤖 AI-powered traffic & shifts in shopper behavior (versus last year)
The rise of AI-assisted shopping was major this year. According to Adobe, AI-linked traffic surged on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, up 805% on Black Friday vs 2024.
That spike likely helped drive discovery and deal-hunting, but it doesn’t appear to have translated proportionally into bulk buying. The selective purchasing behavior, fewer items per cart, higher average item value, suggests many AI-assisted users browsed and compared, then bought only what mattered.
What This Means for brands:
BFCM is still delivering, but the rules have shifted. 2025 shows that raw sales volume is no longer the only metric that matters. What matters: average order value, product mix, and margin per sale.
Consumers are hunting value, not just deals. With inflation and economic uncertainty in the background, shoppers are leaning toward meaningful purchases, not bulk buying. Brands selling mid-to-high-ticket items, or products with high perceived value (apparel, electronics, lifestyle), are in a sweet spot.
AI-driven discovery is becoming the new normal. The dramatic increase in AI-powered traffic suggests that shoppers are using tools to navigate the deal noise. For brands and DTC operators, that means better metadata, polished UX, frictionless checkout, and strong product-page clarity are no longer “nice to have”, they’re mandatory.
Sources: Shopify, Reuters, Retail Dive, TechCrunch, MarketWatch, BostonGlobe.com, AP News
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Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.
Turn BFCM Shoppers into Loyal Customers
You've likely acquired many customers on BFCM.
However (and I hate to bring bad news ), most of them won’t come back...
UNLESS you do something about it.
It’s not cheap to acquire customers this time of the year. That’s why you need a game plan to maximize their lifetime value (LTV) after BFCM.
I've put together this mini-guide with 100% actionable tips to turn these "deal-hunters" into "raving fans".
Check it out!
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If you don't have anyone to help you with it, we'd be happy to help. Just book a call with me and let's see what we can do for you.
Top Podcast Episodes of 2025
This week I took a break from new episodes on The DTC Insider podcast (we'll be back soon!).
In the meantime, you can enjoy some AMAZING conversations I've had with super successful brands in 2025:
What did you think of today's newsletter?
If you found this interesting, please leave us a review. It’d mean the world to me.
Latest News in the DTC Space
📰 Shopify’s BFCM Report [read more]
📰 Report Looks at Evolving Social Media and Online Shopping Trends [read more]
📰 Why Q5 is a golden opportunity for advertisers on TikTok [read more]
📰 Shopify hit by login outage on major sales day [read more]
About The Writer
Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR Digital, a growth marketing agency he started in 2013 to help e-commerce brands unlock hidden revenue by identifying misalignments between their marketing and customer behavior. He is also the host of The DTC Insider podcast, where he interviews thought leaders, founders, and directors in the e-commerce space.
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
Want to talk shop?
If your brand is doing at least 7 figures, apply here to get featured (for free) on The DTC Insider podcast and my team will get in touch.
Need help to grow your online sales?
Book a call with me and let’s explore how my team and I at BSR can help you.
Promote your Business to 11,000+ People in the DTC Space
The DTC Insider (newsletter + podcast) reaches a highly qualified audience of DTC founders, directors, and marketers. Learn more about the sponsorship opportunities we offer for your business. If you’d like to become a sponsor, apply here.