Have you managed to catch your breath from all the crazy Black Friday deals yet? Just about? Good! Now that the dust has settled, let’s examine the results.

Gone are the ghosts of Black Friday’s past where retailers crammed heavy discounting into a one day event. This year, discount distribution – from the Monday before Black Friday up until Cyber Monday – was paramount to success. Retailers who choose to start their discounting on the days running up to Black Friday saw an increase in mobile app sales of up to 700% higher than their daily average.

On Black Friday itself, retailers with NN4M apps achieved a sales increase of 470% higher than the average Friday.  While this was lower than last year, overall for the entire Black Week mobile app sales were 25% higher than last year and retailers raked in over one month’s worth of revenue in one week.

NN4M’s mobile app results are in line with the 25% increase that the industry predicted, while other online channels fell short with a 6.7% growth on last year.

So what lessons can we take from Black Week 2016?

Well, retailers are staggering discounts across the entire week and consumers are taking advantage by spending more across a longer period of time.  Interestingly, in line with app consumer spending patterns, Sunday was a strong day for those still discounting with some of the highest revenue being captured on this day.

With the astounding statistics we have gathered it is not outrageous to say that consumers are flocking to mobile – with apps being the first choice  – in order to find, browse and buy the best deals over the entire Black Week not just one day.

These changing patterns are likely to remain a fixture for the next few years as consumers grow to expect longer discounting periods and mobile apps become more in-grained in the shopping journey. So next year, retailers should consider how they can use mobile to drive sales in other channels as well as offering the best possible app experience.