What: During the 2024 Black Friday-Cyber Monday period, Stripe achieved its largest-ever four-day processing volume of $31 billion, demonstrating the growing dominance of digital payments and cross-border commerce in global retail.

Why it is important: The achievement highlights the evolution of Black Friday from a US-centric shopping event to a global e-commerce phenomenon, with payment platforms becoming crucial enablers of international retail growth and digital transformation.

Stripe's Black Friday through Cyber Monday performance showcased the platform's crucial role in global digital commerce. Processing 465 million transactions, including 43 million cross-border transactions worth $3.2 billion, the platform maintained 99.9999% API uptime while handling 137,000 transactions per minute at peak times. Major retailers including Amazon, Shopify, Best Buy, and Zara relied on this infrastructure for their operations. The platform's sophisticated fraud prevention system blocked 20.9 million fraudulent transactions worth $917 million, while successfully processing payments across multiple currencies. The geographic spread of transactions, with top-selling cities including Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco, exemplifies the truly global nature of modern e-commerce. The US Dollar, British Pound, and Euro emerged as the leading transaction currencies, reflecting the international scope of the shopping event.

IADS Notes: The transformation of retail payment landscapes in 2024 is evident in the broader context of digital commerce. Global online sales reached $74.4 billion during this period , with 38% of shoppers utilising AI tools for deal-hunting . This technological evolution aligns with the retail sector's successful adaptation to digital transformation, where department stores balanced physical and digital channels, maintaining 42% of shopping visits . The growing importance of fraud prevention is highlighted by US retailers facing $101 billion in return fraud losses. Major retailers like Amazon and Shopify experienced record-breaking sales, underlining the crucial role of reliable payment infrastructure in modern retail.

Global digital sales surge as Stripe powers $31B Black Friday weekend