ans remained highly engaged from Black Friday through to Cyber Monday, with strong numbers in areas like POS and cross-border sales showing both the continued importance of omnichannel retail, and how confidently local brands are competing on the global stage,” said Shaun Broughton, managing director of Shopify APAC and Japan. Record spending and omnichannel strength Shopify merchants globally generated USD $14.6 billion in sales over the BFCM weekend, up 27 per cent from 2024, with more than 81 million consumers making a purchase.  APAC merchant sales grew over 28 per cent, and Australia ranked as the third top‑selling country worldwide, with the number of local consumers purchasing from Shopify merchants rising 15 per cent year‑on‑year.  “Consumers were more deliberate, using tools like AI to research, compare, and shop smarter, and the businesses that invested in intelligent systems to drive efficiency and responsiveness, simplified their buying journeys, and kept their offers clear and compelling saw particularly strong results,” Broughton stated. “Viewed together, this weekend highlighted the strength of Australia’s retail community and reinforced BFCM as a key moment on the country’s  retail calendar,” he added. According to Shopify, shopper activity in Australia peaked at 10am AEST on Friday 28 November, with Melbourne leading purchasing activity nationally, followed by Sydney and Brisbane, and top product categories including clothing tops, cosmetics, dresses, activewear, and fitness and nutrition.​ The strength of physical retail was another standout. Point‑of‑sale (POS) sales made by Shopify merchants in Australia jumped 54 per cent compared with last year’s BFCM weekend, highlighting the importance of omnichannel strategies that blend online discovery with in‑store buying.  Zip’s data reinforces this shift: in Australia and New Zealand, in‑store purchases made using Zip accounted for almost half of transactions, as customers increasingly used Zip’s digital Visa card for both online and in‑store spend. Together, the two datasets show that Australian shoppers are comfortable moving between channels while expecting consistent offers and flexible ways to pay.​​ Loyal customers, browsing booms and smarter messaging Klaviyo’s latest holiday report showed that repeat customers are driving much of the early‑season and BFCM growth, with loyalty and CRM‑led strategies outperforming pure acquisition plays.  Product views across e-commerce sites are sharply higher year‑on‑year, pointing to a “browsing boom” in which shoppers research extensively but often convert over a shorter window in the 10 days leading up to Black Friday.  Brands using AI‑powered recommendations and predictive analytics to personalise offers – such as replenishment prompts, complementary product suggestions and tailored bundles – are converting that intent more efficiently into sales.​ Owned channels, particularly SMS, are proving critical. Klaviyo reported that text message revenue has grown faster than send volume, indicating that revenue per send is holding strong even as brands scale up their messaging.  This aligns with Australian performance on Shopify, where retailers that invested in intelligent systems, streamlined journeys and clear, compelling offers converted demand more effectively during BFCM.  Discount levels, meanwhile, have remained relatively disciplined compared with prior years, suggesting that brands are leaning more on value‑based offers, such as bundles, early access and loyalty perks, than on blanket markdowns. Everyday spend meets peak‑season splurges Zip’s BFCM insights provided a window into what Australians were actually buying and how their financial behaviour is evolving.  Across Australia and New Zealand, the most popular categories for Zip customers were everyday spend segments like groceries, service stations and bills, alongside traditional BFCM staples such as online marketplaces, electronics and department stores.  Digital goods – games and applications in particular – were surprisingly among the fastest‑growing categories, pointing to the ongoing shift towards software, subscriptions and virtual entertainment as meaningful parts of holiday spending.​ Millennials were the heaviest Zip users in ANZ, accounting for 44 per cent of transactions and followed by Gen Z, Gen X and Boomers, with growth reported across all age groups.  Peak Zip transaction moments in ANZ occurred on Black Friday itself, with the busiest minute recorded between 9:40pm and 9:41pm AEDT, and the afternoon period from 1pm to 5pm delivering the highest activity across the weekend.  Combined with Shopify’s peak‑hour and city‑level data, the picture is of an Australian shopper who starts early, surges during key windows and uses flexible payment tools to manage both everyday essentials and big‑ticket purchases.​ Viewed together, Shopify, Klaviyo and Zip data point to a BFCM defined less by blanket discounting and more by smart targeting, loyalty and flexibility.  Australian retailers that blended omnichannel shopping, disciplined pricing, CRM‑led communication and versatile payment options were the clear winners – and are well positioned to carry that momentum into the rest of the holiday season.