Increased trading pressures – from operations to logistics and customer care – over the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) period will place more emphasis on post-purchase experiences in the run up to Christmas, research from eDesk suggests.

Black Friday delivered a welcome spending boost to retailers, with Barclays data showing transactions volumes hit a 2025 high on Black Friday. Meanwhile, Nationwide said that by 4pm its customers had made +7.3million worth of purchases, peaking at 255 transactions per second.

According to new global data from customer support software provider, eDesk, retailers’ customer service teams experienced a +30% increase in pre-sale questions in the week preceding Black Friday, as customers sought assistance with product discovery and selection.

It also showed that BFCM delivery and tracking questions, including WISMO, made up to 1 in 5 support tickets following the promotional period post-dispatch, adding extra pressure to customer service teams.

The Black Friday spending surge is also expected to have a significant impact on returns leading up to Christmas; eDesk estimates that returns and refunds will increase by +40% between Black Friday and Christmas, extending the operational burden on retail teams further.

It warns that this increase in return rates – as well as the increased of time and effort needed to manage the operational complexity of returns – will create a heavily burden customer services teams, reducing profitability.

“Customer return interactions are crucial for building brand loyalty because positive experiences increase the likelihood of repeat purchases,” said Gareth Cummings, CEO at eDesk. “This shift, from viewing customer support as costly to recognising it as a growth driver, underscores its strategic importance, especially during peak seasons.”

Further data from eDesk showed that customers who were satisfied with their returns experience were +30% more likely to repurchase within six months. Increasingly, speed of response was a key driver in positive post-purchase experiences – and moving customers from email to real-time support, such as chat, was found to cut average resolution times by -50%.