UPDATED: Click Frenzy buckles under pressure
Australian shoppers apparently love a sale, any kind of sale. After its website crashed initially, the 24-hour online sale, Click Frenzy, generated a 200 per cent increase in revenue for some of the retailers involved.
The boost in revenue indicated a strong demand from consumers wanting to beat the crowds and find bargains online in the lead up to Christmas, according to organisers.
There was also significant increase in transactions for participating retailers.
Customers of local payment gateway eWAY experienced a collective revenue spike of more than 200 per cent during Click Frenzy.
Shoppers purchased almost $1,500,000 worth of goods in the 24 hours between 7pm on November 20 and 7pm on November 21 from Click Frenzy merchants using the eWAY payment gateway.
This was a 240 per cent increase from the same time the previous week, according to eWAY, which compiled the statistics from a list of its customers that are also Click Frenzy merchants.
The number of transactions during the 24-hour period also ballooned by more than 285 per cent to over 14,000, compared with the same period for the previous week.
eWAY customer, brandsExclusive, an online retailer selling clothing, accessories and homewares experienced significant uptake through its involvement in the sale.
“We saw strong increases in traffic throughout the 24-hour period with a spike in new members joining our site as well as a lift in unique visitors. The traffic and revenue figures over the 24-hour period were very promising,” brandsExclusive co-founder and managing director, Daniel Jarosch, said.
eWAY’s other Click Frenzy merchants included retailers such as Anaconda, Shaver Shop, Ezy DVD, Katie’s and Camera House.
eWAY CEO, Matt Bullock, said in statement the numbers were indicative of strong consumer purchasing habits in the lead up to Christmas.
“We always see an increase in volumes in the lead up to Christmas, but Click Frenzy has pushed online sales to the next level,” Bullock stated. “While our merchants participating in Click Frenzy have benefited, it has also had a positive impact on many other online businesses, with overall sales volumes spiking over the frenzy period.
""I see the huge interest in Click Frenzy as an example of how strong Australian eCommerce really is.”
Click Frenzy is modelled on the phenomenally successful Cyber Monday in the US, an event for online retailers to capitalise on the Thanksgiving Holiday Black Friday phenomenon which has become the biggest retail sales day on the US calendar.
Cyber Monday is the biggest online sales event in the US and has grown significantly every year.
