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BFCM Sales Were Up, So Why Did Profits Go Backwards for Aussie Brands?

Black Friday Cyber Monday looked like a win for Australian eCommerce.

Traffic was higher, orders increased, and sales days hit record levels.

But when the dust settled, many brands realised something uncomfortable. Profits did not follow revenue.

In this episode of eCommerce Australia, Ryan Martin is joined by Kat Ramos, Senior Growth Executive at Profit Peak, to unpack exclusive Australian BFCM data from Profit Peak’s newly released BFCM 2025 Playbook, and why so many brands sold more but kept less.

This is a must-listen for Shopify store owners planning for BFCM 2026 and beyond.

Kat breaks down the key findings from thousands of Australian orders, including:

• 📈 300% uplift in daily net sales, Aussies were ready to spend
  

• 🧲 426% increase in new customers, acquisition was aggressive
  

• 🔻 16% drop in contribution margin, discounts and ad spend took their toll
  

• 💸 New customers cost significantly more to acquire than returning ones
  

• ⚠️ Many brands celebrated revenue before seeing their credit card bills
  

The result was busy stores, stressed cash flow, and thinner margins.

This episode goes beyond post-mortems and into what winning brands did differently, including:

• Why blanket site-wide discounts hurt more than they help
  

• How to discount C and D stock without damaging your brand
  

• Using bundles, mystery gifts, and AOV levers instead of deeper discounts
  

• Why contribution margin beats ROAS as your North Star metric
  

• How AI-driven product discovery delivered up to 350% higher contribution profit per session
  

The conversation also dives into how customer behaviour is shifting fast:

• TikTok as the top product discovery channel for Aussie shoppers
  

• Google still dominating first-click acquisition
  

• Email and direct traffic closing the sale
  

• Early signals that AI-powered discovery will play a major role by 2026
  

If your Shopify store relies heavily on Meta and Google alone, this episode will challenge your channel mix.

If you are:

• Planning BFCM 2026
  

• Feeling margin pressure despite growing revenue
  

• Discounting without a clear profit model
  

• Struggling to connect ads, inventory, and product performance
  

This episode will help you rethink how to grow profit-first, not just top-line.

Kat Ramos is Senior Growth Executive at Profit Peak, helping Australian eCommerce brands connect product data, ad performance, and profitability so every team works toward the same margin goal.

Revenue is vanity. Profit is strategy. And BFCM rewards the brands who prepare months in advance.

🚨 What Aussie Brands Got Wrong This BFCM🧠 The Smarter BFCM Strategy That Actually Protects Profit🤖 AI, TikTok, and the New Aussie Shopping Journey📊 Why This Matters for Shopify Store Owners👥 About the Guest🔑 Key Takeaway