In this post-mortem episode, hosts Mike Ryan and Chris dive deep into the data behind the last peak season to reveal the true cost of Black Friday. They confirm what many performance marketers feared: the event is a "promotional bloodbath where margins are lost".

The numbers are shocking: Google Ads spend was up over 31% year-over-year, but revenue only grew 15%, resulting in a massive 12% drop in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). But the real trouble is profitability. Mike reveals an exclusive chart showing how the average gross profit margin dropped by 9 percentage points in the final week of November.

What else is covered in this data-driven post-mortem:

• The Dilution of Demand: Why Black Friday search volume has been on a secular decline since peaking in 2018, and why the "doorbuster" concept is dead.
• The Hourly Opportunity: A never-before-seen hourly analysis that pinpoints the exact time when Cost Per Order (CPO) cools down and conversion rates peak, revealing the best time to run your budget.
• Competitor Strategy: A look at how Amazon is continuously ramping up spend, while the competition from Teemu drastically fell off on Black Friday itself.
• The Final Warning: Why the relentless increase in CPCs is the single biggest threat to the middle-of-the-pack online retailer.

About Smarter Ecommerce (smec)

Smarter Ecommerce (smec) helps e-commerce brands scale profitably with AI-driven PPC automation—optimizing for business outcomes while keeping strategic control in the hands of marketers. The platform activates first-party data (e.g., margins, CLV, core business metrics) to automate campaign optimization toward profitability and efficient growth, with transparent insights that reduce manual work and free teams for strategic oversight.

As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages €500M+ in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients, including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport.

Follow smec for performance marketing insights:

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