Get More Out Of Q4 2022 SaaS and Software Holiday Spend report -
The fourth quarter is the most important quarter for software companies around the world.
We verified this by looking over the sales figures of more than 300 SaaS and software companies which use our bill-pay platform. We observed that the fourth quarter of 2014 is by far the best-performing quarter of the year in both business and consumer sales.
And here's our question to you: Are you profiting from the period? Software companies in November see 11% to 24% over the typical monthly revenue.At the close this year customers are ready to spend money on subscriptions and software- are you using your marketing budget effectively?
In this article, you'll find:
- Changes to US software sales by the month and by the quarter
- The way software sales differ around the world throughout the year
- A comparison between B2C and B2B B2B revenue from quarter to quarter
- Strategies for taking advantage of seasonal holidays and occasions around the globe
About Our Data
The billing platform of's supports more than 3500 SaaS as well as software businesses that are customers in more than 200 different countries and territories. In this guide, we'll concentrate on where the sales happen as opposed to the location of the company.
Also, we'll be looking at the monthly average revenue of all sales made in a specific country using a seasonal index, which compares the month to the median revenue of one particular year.
The data we have collected suggests conducting Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other holiday promotions between November and the end of December.
But the "holidays" are greater that Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you consider the global context you will find a myriad of occasions to run promotions and drive revenues.
You just have to know which part of the globe to go.
US End-of-Year Trends SaaS And Software Purchases
Within the U.S., many industries have a substantial increase in sales towards the close of the year. For example toys, hobbies, and gaming stores make 35 percent of their overall sales in the period of the holiday season. What about SaaS as well as software?
Utilizing five years of data that we analyzed, we examined the average monthly revenue from all software sales that were made on the platform located in the U.S. Then we looked at the comparison of each month to the yearly average.
Sales are at their peak in November and keep growing until the end of the year.
Average US SaaS and Software Sales
Again, looking at the entire quarter it is clear that the fourth quarter as more successful than the three previous quarters.
US SaaS and Software Revenues by Quarter
The data is exclusive to the U.S. What about global trends?
Global End-Of-Year Trends For SaaS and Software Purchases
For a better understanding of consumer behaviour worldwide, we studied SaaS and software purchase across eight markets that are major, which include that of the U.S., Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Brazil, Australia as well as China.
Again, when we examined the October-to December's sales compared with the monthly average for October through December, we did see increased the sales during October, November as well as December. the highest sales occurring in November . the peak is significantly higher on a global scale.
Average Worldwide SaaS, Software and Sales
Remember that these numbers are based on where the client is in, and not where the headquarters of the company, which suggests these Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals really do drive the world to increase revenue for SaaS and software businesses.
Average Monthly Revenue by the Country (2016-2020)
If we look at more into the data, we see that while Q4 is still the most robust quarter for all countries, the increase is different from country country. As an example, among the countries that we examined, China and Germany had the highest average increases in November.
B2B Versus B2C , End of Year Performance
There's lots of anecdotal talk of B2B sales slowing in the 4th quarter. We believe this to be true for sales processes with more lengthy buying cycles or an account-based approach. When we take a take a look at B2B SaaS or software sales generally We find that the last quarter is actually the best period of the year. The average is 114% increase over the quarter-to-quarter average.
To compare the performance of B2B in comparison to B2C firms, we randomly selected 30 users that only serve B2B or B2C markets around the world. Then, we looked at their revenue from 2019, 2020 and 2021 to discern the trends.
You can see that the fourth quarter is an absolute winner for B2B as well asB2C firms.
B2B Versus Quarterly B2C Sales
What does this information tell us about the way SaaS as well as software companies can approach the holidays? In the following sections, we'll offer best techniques for the final days of the year. We'll also provide more data to help discover other holiday opportunities to drive revenue -- all through the year.
5 Strategies for the Holiday Season For SaaS And Software Companies
1. Consider Different Marketing Strategies Per Country Or Region
If you conduct campaigns across several countries or regions, take into consideration localizing your campaign.
In many countries, the increase in sales during November usually happens in the course of Cyber Week, which is celebrated by many countries across the world. That includes Germany where there is the second largest increase in November among the nations we have compared.
But the biggest lift was derived from China as a place that Cyber Week is not as important than Singles's Day that falls on the 11th of November. According to our analysis we observed a significant increase in sales in China for the Singles' Day.
2. Incorporate Regional or Other Calendars of Competitive Holidays Calendar
Our data reveals opportunities throughout the year too. For example, while revenues fell in June across all the countries we looked at however, it grew in China likely due to China's annual 618 shopping day that is second in terms of ecommerce day in the country. Single's Day is the largest.
Many companies conduct promotions around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Don't forget, there are many other celebrations throughout the year which you can use for increased profits.
If your product is gaining great acceptance in a particular region, it may be worthwhile to create a regional calendar of holidays for the region and develop a special regional offering in accordance with.
It's impossible to predict what's going to happen to your specific business, but you know your markets. Check out your records and observe what patterns and trends you can find.
In general, regional data will provide you with a more accurate understanding of the return on investment (ROI) for any marketing program you are running.
Holidays Or Important Shopping Days Of Note
These are just a few ideas to think about. There are many other events in particular areas, and we encourage you to research specific events that are happening in the areas which you sell to.
- Chinese New Year/Spring Festival -The date is usually between January 21 to the 21st of February
- It is popular in China and other countries with large Chinese or Sinophone population
- International Women's Day -- March 8
- National holiday in 27 countries across West, Central, and East Africa, Eastern Europe, Germany, China and North Korea
- Singles' Day -- November 11 An Anti-Valentine Day holiday
- The is celebrated throughout Southeast Asia and Western Europe
- Diwali -- The 15th day of the Hindu month of Kartik (Usually the end of October or early November)
- The is famous throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia, Caribbean
- Click Frenzy -- Second Tuesday of November
- Australia
- Black Friday -- Last Friday in November
- North America, much of Western Europe, China, large portions of Africa, Brazil, and Mexico are all participants.
- Cyber Monday
- Many countries that take part 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, most of Southeast Asia, South Africa
- Boxing Day -- December 26
- is 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 of September, in both Canada, the U.S. and Canada; and the first Monday of October in Australia
- Much-loved around the globe
3. Promotional Strategies Can Be rolled into Q1
While software sales slow down in the first quarter of 2018, the drop might not be as severe as you'd like. The sales in January were steady (above 90 percent) in areas like the US, Great Britain, Germany as well as Canada. The bigger drop occurred in February.
The majority of marketing and sales teams have a break during the first quarter of the year to recharge or regroup. But there's also an opportunity to be noticed even in the midst of a more competitive time.
When you run campaigns during the fourth quarter, you're not just competing against the competition of your own. At the end of the year, inboxes of customers and social media feeds are filled with Christmas-related promotions. More than any other season it's an opportunity to be noticed.
The months of January and February could be an ideal time to test something completely new or even big.
4. Monitor Your Sales with an Index of Seasonality
Track the success of your campaign year after year so that you can ensure the increase in spending does not exceed an increase in sales.
Monthly-over month (MoM) as well as year-over-year (YoY) Growth can reveal much, but those aren't the only way to examine performance.
A seasonality index like the one we utilized in our guide, shows how a given month compares with the normal month in a year.
We recommend tracking each year's campaigns YoY and comparison of the results with other campaigns you run throughout the year.
Be aware that a month-long increase in revenues may not provide the full picture of the performance of your campaign. In the case of Cyber Monday, for instance, based on the time zone and how the purchase is processed, Cyber Monday sales may continue into the month of December. If you look only at the sales figures for November, you may not see the full image.
While you're planning your campaigns In the process of planning your promotions, we've included a few others KPIs we recommend tracking.
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5. Focus On the Customer's Appreciation
If you're not going to double your revenues at the conclusion of the year, holiday season is the ideal time to work on customer relationships, especially when you're using the SaaS product.
Take advantage of the Christmas season to express your appreciation to existing or VIP customers through extra generous promotional offers, gifts, giveaways or personal offers. Here are some ideas which other SaaS and software firms have used successfully:
- Run an "Holiday Bundle" promotion with your most popular add-ons or even a complementary education.
- Provide a significant discount on a subscription plan or software upgrade.
- Run a gift promotion encouraging customers to buy subscriptions or programs for their friends and family.
- Run an "Treat Yourself" promotion encouraging consumers to purchase gifts for themselves during the holidays.
- Offer a year-long subscription or upgrade who are enrolled in a referral or loyalty program.
- Make something extra special to email newsletter users.
4. Reward your affiliates
Many affiliates, whether they're corporations or individuals, might be planning on pushing all the way through the Christmas season, which makes it the perfect moment to reward them by offering a larger commission rate or a particularly good deal which they could recommend.
How Do I Help?
Below are some methods that's fully-stack platform for commerce will help you through the holiday season and beyond.
1. Support Inquiry Management
If you are expecting a substantial rise in sales during the Christmas season Are you and your customer service team ready? Support for purchase-related inquiries can be handled on behalf of you, which will save the time and funds to focus on driving more sales during the holiday season.
2. Localized Languages, Currencies as well as payment methods
To compete and win in the marketplace of the world Your business needs to provide a localized shopping experience that accommodates a broad range of language, rules as well as local customs.
The preferred payment methods differ according to regions. If you can discern a trend in the most popular areas on your site analytics, you can select the payment options that you must offer global shoppers. These include digital wallets such as PayPal as well as credit cards as well as wire transfer. When you provide the best method of payment, you'll be able to reduce abandoned carts and decreases in payment.
offers a localized checkout experience which automatically converts your item's prices to the customer's local currency and preferred language and offers a wide variety of payment options.
3. Global Tax Management And Regulation Compliance
The global consumer doesn't like unanticipated tax or regulatory obligations and can prove to be very unsettling to shoppers.
Automatically calculates tax, VAT and GST automatically at payment process and makes sure that regulations such as GDPR and PSD2 are automatically applied to the affected transactions.