Learn More From Q4: 2022 SaaS and Software Holiday Spend The Report
The fourth quarter is by far the most important quarter for companies that develop software around the globe.
This was confirmed by analyzing the sales figures of more than 300 SaaS and software companies which use our bill-pay platform. We discovered that Q4 is by far the best-performing quarter of the year for both business and consumer sales.
We'd like to ask your company: Are you benefitting from this quarter? Software companies in November are able to see anywhere from 11% to 24% more than the average monthly revenue.At the close of the year, consumers are willing to invest money on software and subscriptions -- are you using your marketing dollars wisely?
In this article, you'll find:
- Changes to US software sales per month and quarter
- What software's sales are different around the world throughout the year
- A comparative of B2C and B2B revenue from quarter to quarter
- Tips for making the most of holidays and other seasonal opportunities around the world
About Us Data
Its billing platform is used by more than 3500 SaaS and software companies who have clients in more than 200 different countries and territories. In this article, we'll focus on where sales take place in contrast to where a company is located.
Additionally, we'll look at the monthly average revenue of all sales made in the country of a given country, employing a seasonal indicator, which compares the month to the median revenue of a given year.
It's suggested by our data that it's worthwhile conducting Black Friday, Cyber Monday and various other holidays promotions during November and December.
The "holidays" can be greater then Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you consider the global context, there are dozens of holiday seasons that you could use to promote promotions and increase revenue.
It's just a matter of knowing where in the world to search.
US End-Of-Year Trends For SaaS And Software Purchases
Within the U.S., many industries experience a dramatic increase in sales toward the close season. As an example, for instance, hobby, toy, and game stores earn 35 percent of their annual revenues around the holidays. But is this true for SaaS as well as software?
Using five years of data We looked at the monthly average from all software sales that were made on the platform in the U.S. Then we looked at the comparison of each month's results to the year-long average.
The sales are at their peak in November but remain strong until the end of the year.
Average US SaaS and Software Sales
When we look at the quarter as a whole, we see the fourth quarter is much more successful than the three previous quarters.
US SaaS and Software Revenues by Quarter
This is only data on sales in the U.S. However, what are global trends?
Global Trends at the End of Year for SaaS and Software Purchases
For a better understanding of consumer behaviour across the globe, we examined SaaS and software purchases across eight major markets, including that of the U.S., Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia, and China.
Once again, when we assessed the month of October to December's sales compared with the monthly average for October through December We did notice an increase in sales in October, November as well as December. sales peaking most in November . the peak is significantly higher in the world.
Average Worldwide SaaS and Software Sales
Be aware that these figures reflect where the client is located, not the company's headquarters, suggesting those Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts actually result in an increase in revenues worldwide for SaaS and software companies.
Average Monthly Revenues by country (2016-2020)
If we look at more into the data it is clear that, while Q4 continues to be the strongest quarter for all countries, the increase is different from country nation. In the case of countries that we examined, China and Germany had the highest average increases in November.
B2B In contrast to B2C at the end of the year Performance
There's a lot of anecdotal evidence of B2B sales slowing in the final quarter of the year. It's possible that this is the case in sales systems that have more lengthy buying cycles or the account-based model. However, when we examine B2B SaaS as well as software sales in general We find that this is the most profitable quarter of the year, with an average of 114% higher than the quarterly average.
For a comparison of the results of B2B versus B2C businesses by randomly selecting 30 customers that exclusively offer B2B or B2C markets around the world. Then, we looked at their revenue from 2019, 2020 and 2021 to discern trends.
It is evident that this quarter was an absolute winner for B2B andB2C companies.
B2B Versus B2C Quarterly Sales
What does this information provide us with regard to the way SaaS and software companies should take on the Christmas season? In the following sections, we'll outline the top practices for end-of-year campaigns. And we'll show you some extra data to help you identify additional ways to boost revenue -- all through the year.
5 Christmas Strategies for SaaS And Software Companies
1. Think about different marketing strategies for each the Country or Region
If you conduct campaigns in multiple countries or regions, take into consideration localizing your campaign.
Many countries' increase in sales during November usually is observed during Cyber Week, which is observed by several countries around the globe. This is not just Germany, which has the second highest November increase among the nations we have compared.
However, the largest increase resulted in China -- a country in which Cyber Week is not as significant than Singles's Day which occurs on November 11. Based on our research, we found a large growth in sales China during Singles' Day.
2. Include Regional and Other Competition-based Holidays to your Campaign Calendar
Our data reveals opportunities for other times of the year, as well. As an example, although revenue dipped in June in most countries we studied but it was up in China possibly because of the annual 618 shopping day that is second in terms of ecommerce day for the nation. Single's Day is the largest.
Many companies conduct promotions on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Don't forget, there are dozens of other celebrations throughout the year which you can use to increase revenues.
If your product enjoys high acceptance in a particular region, it may be worthwhile to create a regional holiday calendar for that area and develop a special region-specific offer in line with it.
It's impossible to predict what will happen to your specific business, but you know the markets you are competing in. Look over your data and see what patterns and trends you can detect.
The general rule is that regional information will provide you with a more accurate sense of your ROI (ROI) in any advertising campaign that you conduct.
Special Holidays or Important Shopping Days Of Note
These are just a few ideas you should think about. There are many more in specific zones, and we recommend you to look into activities in your regions that which you sell to.
- Chinese New Year/Spring Festival -- Always falls between January 21 and February 21
- is celebrated in China and countries with significant Chinese or Sinophone numbers
- International Women's Day -- March 8
- National holiday celebrated in 27 countries throughout West, Central, and East Africa, Eastern Europe, Germany, China and North Korea
- Singles' Day -- November 11 is an Anti-Valentine Day holiday
- The is celebrated throughout Southeast Asia and Western Europe
- Diwali -- The 15th of December in the Hindu month Kartik (Usually the end of October, or even early November)
- Celebrated in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Caribbean
- Click Frenzy -- Second Tuesday of November
- Australia
- Black Friday -- Last Friday of November
- North America, much of Western Europe, China, large portions of Africa, Brazil, and Mexico participate
- Cyber Monday
- Most countries that participate on Black Friday are also interested in Cyber Monday.
- Christmas, December 25,
- North America, most of Easter and Western Europe, Australia, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Pakistan, India, Japan, Hong Kong, much of Southeast Asia, South Africa
- Boxing Day -- December 26
- Celebrated in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand
- International Workers Day or Labor Day -- May 1 in much of Europe, Russia, Africa, Central and South America; the first Monday in September across Canada, the U.S. and Canada; and the first Monday in October in Australia
- Widely celebrated all over the world
3. Promotional Efforts Can Roll Into Q1
Although software sales are slowing during the first quarter of this year, the drop might not be as severe as you'd hoped. The sales in January were good (above 90 percent) in the US, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada. However, the biggest drop took place in February.
The majority of marketing and sales teams take it easy at the beginning of the quarter to recharge or regroup. But there's also an opportunity to be noticed in a less competitive season.
If you're running campaigns during the fourth quarter of the year, you're not only competing with the competition of your own. When the time comes to close the year, inboxes of customers and social media feeds are filled with Christmas-related promotions. In the most popular season, you're competing for attention.
The months of January and February could be the ideal time to experiment with something new or big.
4. Track Your Sales Using an Index of Seasonality
Track the success of your marketing campaigns over time to make sure that an increase in spend does not exceed an increase in sales.
Monthly-over month (MoM) and year-over-year (YoY) growth tells you many things, but they're not the only ways to evaluate performance.
A seasonality index similar to that we have employed in this article, shows how a given month compares with the normal one in the course of a year.
We suggest keeping track of the results of your annual campaigns YoY, and then comparing the results against the other campaigns you are running throughout the year.
Keep in mind that an increase in monthly sales may not be the full picture of the performance of your campaign. In the case of Cyber Monday, for instance, based on your time zone and the date the purchase is processed, Cyber Monday sales may last into December. If you look only at the sales figures for November, you may not see the entire picture.
When you're making plans for your promotional events Here are some other KPIs we recommend tracking.
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5. Focus On Customer Recognition
If you're not going to double your revenue at the end of the year, the Christmas season is the best time to work on customer relationships, especially when you're using an SaaS product.
Make the most of the holiday season for a chance to thank your current or loyal customers by offering extra generous promotional offers, gifts, giveaways or personal offers. Here are some suggestions which other SaaS and software companies have been successful with:
- Create the "Holiday Bundle" promotion using your most popular add-ons or even an additional training.
- Provide a significant price on a subscription or software upgrade.
- Run a gift promotion in which customers are urged to purchase subscriptions or programs to give to their family and friends.
- Create an "Treat Yourself" promotion encouraging customers to buy something to treat themselves at the time of the holiday.
- Offer a year-long subscription or upgrade participating in a loyalty program.
- Create something unique to newsletter email subscribers.
4. Reward your affiliates
Many affiliates, whether they're individuals or companies, may be planning on pushing through the holiday season, which makes it the perfect time to reward them with an increased commission or with a special offer to promote.
What Can I Do?
Below are some ways that's complete-stack marketplace will help you through the holiday season and beyond.
1. Support Inquiry Management
If you anticipate a significant rise in sales during the holidays Are you and your customer service team ready? They can handle support related to purchases on behalf of you, which will save you hours and budget to focus on selling more during the festive season.
2. Localized Languages, Currency, And Payment Methods
To compete and win in the global marketplace Your business needs to provide a localized shopping experience that can accommodate a wide range of regulations, languages and preferences local to the area.
The payment methods that are most preferred differ depending on the region. If you can see a trend of popular regions in your website analytics, you can narrow down payment methods you should automatically offer to international customers. It includes electronic wallets, such as PayPal and credit cards and wire transfers. If you offer the most popular payment method, you will be able to reduce the abandonment of your cart and declines in payments.
offers a localized checkout experience that automatically converts your product's price information into your customers' local currency and preferred languages and provides a variety of payment choices.
3. Global Tax Management And Regulation Compliance
The global consumer doesn't like an unexpected regulatory or tax burden and can prove to be very disruptive to the purchase process.
Automatically calculates tax, VAT, and GST in the payment process and makes sure that laws like GDPR as well as PSD2 are applied automatically to affected transactions.