Peak season, peak pressure: How to build a checkout experience that withstands Black Friday

People love a bargain. 

Originating in the US, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have snowballed into a global phenomenon where merchants offer significant discounts on their products to kick off the Christmas shopping season. 

In 2024, global online sales reached a record-breaking high of $314.9 billion during Cyber Week, up 6% year-on-year. This year’s volumes are expected to surge again. But with that opportunity comes risk: each extra second spent waiting for a website to load, every failed payment, and every unclear fee is a chance for a shopper to walk away. 

For merchants and the payment partners supporting them, the challenge is to keep money flowing and to capture the sale in the moment without losing the customer to friction, fraud, or confusion. 

This means preparing early, acting strategically, and building a compelling checkout experience that can handle the pressure. With Cyber Week fast approaching, what should the industry be considering?

Speed and simplicity win the day

Every unnecessary step at the checkout increases the risk of losing a customer – often to a competitor that feels faster or simpler. Our research reveals 43% of European shoppers won’t return to a retailer after a poor checkout experience, with 18-34 year-olds (56%) particularly unforgiving. 

The goal is to keep money flowing without interruptions, which means building a checkout that feels intuitive, predictable, and easy. This can be achieved by reducing the number of pages and input fields to just the essentials. Autofill, one-click checkout, and tokenisation make repeat purchases almost instant. 

It’s important to think mobile first. With smartphones the primary device used by Gen Z and millennials, design the entire flow for small screens and test every tap, swipe, and redirect. Before Black Friday begins, simulate high-traffic conditions, measuring load times, page-to-page speed, and success rates under stress. 

Local payment preferences matter

Payment preferences aren’t one-size-fits-all. 

UK shoppers lean on debit cards, Germans choose PayPal, and Dutch customers expect iDEAL. High-value shoppers often prefer credit cards or Buy Now Pay Later for the added protection on offer. And six in ten (61%) consumers would abandon the purchase if their preferred payment method isn’t available. 

Monitor new payment methods hitting the market. Open Banking is gaining traction, with the number of users in the UK alone surpassing 15 million in July. This means account-to-account payments should be integrated for shoppers who value speed and control. 

Track adoption and usage of different payment methods during peak season to then refine the payment mix for the next year. Matching payment options to customer expectations not only improves approval rates, but it can also lower processing costs and speed up settlements, keeping cash flow healthy during the busiest time of the year. 

Fraud protection without friction

Fraud is front of mind for many shoppers. But security that’s too heavy-handed will push legitimate customers away. 

The key is to strike the right balance, blocking fraud without slowing the flow for genuine transactions. This necessitates a mix of adaptive technology and clear communication.

Apply machine learning models that will score transactions in real time, approving low-risk purchases instantly while flagging higher-risk ones for additional checks. Fraud patterns change during high-volume sales cycles, so update and then test rules ahead of Black Friday to reflect threats. 

Reassuring language, visible trust badges, and buyer protection information increases checkout completion rates. Make customer support options easy to find at checkout, whether that’s live chat or clear contact options for shoppers who have last-minute concerns.

Serve high-spending shoppers better

Households earning over €80,000 account for three in ten (28%) frequent online shoppers. For these buyers, a premium checkout experience isn’t a bonus – it’s a baseline. They’re also more likely to make high-value purchases, often across borders, and have a low tolerance for clunky flows. 

Supporting multiple currencies, localised payment methods, and transparent currency conversion will keep these customers happy. Many of them will be purchasing ‘on the go’ as they travel internationally, so it’s crucial to test high-ticket transactions specifically for mobile UX and approval rates.  

Optimising for the most valuable shoppers can increase average order value, improve repeat purchase rates, and secure greater loyalty from those who contribute disproportionately to revenue. 

Plan for volume: payments infrastructure at scale

Finally, peak season puts unprecedented strain on APIs, gateways, and support teams – and even minor disruptions can cost thousands in lost sales per minute. Over 40% of e-commerce sites experienced payment outages or errors during Black Friday 2024. 

To avoid these issues, prepare infrastructure for spikes, monitor performance in real time and have clear failover paths in place. Merchants working with a payments provider should ensure they have direct, high-priority access to that provider’s technical support during critical sales windows.  In peak season, resilience isn’t just a technical advantage – it’s a competitive edge.

Cyber Week shouldn’t just be seen as a sales spike – it’s a critical stress test for a merchant’s checkout, infrastructure, and ability to keep money moving under pressure. 

Getting it right not only captures revenue in the moment but builds trust, loyalty, and repeat business that lasts into the new year and beyond.