Three ways to prepare for peak season 2025

The busiest time of the year is approaching: peak season.

This period is a huge opportunity for businesses to turn high-traffic days into revenue growth, if it’s done right.

What determines success isn’t just the surge in shoppers, but how well you adapt to their behavior and expectations.

Whether your business focuses on online, in store, or a mix of both, staying in tune with shopper needs is key to staying competitive.

Here are three ways to capture the opportunity and make this year’s peak season your most successful one yet:

During peak season, heavy traffic puts your checkout to the ultimate test.

No matter the channel, shoppers expect a fast, consistent checkout that lets them pay with their preferred payment methods. According to our 2025 Retail Report, 54% of shoppers will leave the store or abandon the online checkout if they can’t pay with the payment method they want.

That’s why offering the right mix of bank and alternative payment methods is key to increasing conversion rates, including:

Local payment methods (LPMs): Our data collected during Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend 2024 shows that LPMs deliver a global ATV that’s 26% higher than other methods.

Digital wallets: Like Apple Pay and Google Pay offer faster, more secure checkouts by reducing steps during the payment.

Contactless payments: On our platform, contactless payments in the US rose from 45% to 58% during BFCM between 2023 and 2024, while globally they reached 81%, reflecting shoppers’ demand for speed and convenience.

Tap to Pay on iPhone: Our platform shows that Tap to Pay on iPhone grew 177% during Black Friday between 2023 and 2024 among our customers already offering it, showing its power to cut queues and elevate the in-store experience.

Adopting a single platform omnichannel approach is crucial to meeting shopper expectations during peak season. 

With Adyen’s single platform, you can remove friction so every payment feels natural, whether online, in person, or on mobile, helping you deliver a smooth, consistent checkout experience.

Our wide range of global and local payment methods are built into fast, intuitive flows, making it easy for customers to pay with their preferred payment methods across all channels.

The goal during peak season is to maximize conversion without opening the door to fraud.

But shopper behavior changes dramatically this time of year; a customer who normally places two orders a month might suddenly place five. Our data also shows that the average transaction value rises by nearly 30% on Black Friday compared to a typical day, which might look suspicious to a rigid rule-based system.

It is critical to have a solution that can distinguish a genuine customer on a shopping spree from a fraud attempt. Blocking legitimate customers over unusual (but valid) patterns leads to lost revenue and frustration.

Our data also shows that fraud attempts have an average transaction value 64% higher than legitimate sales, meaning fraud prevention isn’t just about stopping bad activity but also about protecting your most valuable transactions.

This is where data-driven optimization makes a difference. 

Adyen Uplift optimizes for conversion, risk, and cost at the same time, using machine learning built on Adyen’s $1.3 trillion worth of transaction data. 

For retail businesses working with Adyen, there’s over 90% chance we’ve already seen that shopper before. Recognizing the customer helps our AI minimize false positives, so fewer legitimate shoppers are wrongly blocked. This results in higher conversion and sales when it matters most.

With the Adyen Uplift overview dashboard, you can easily improve payment performance through customized recommendations. The dashboard highlights opportunities based on your data, and with just a few clicks, you can test and implement changes to boost results.

Today’s consumers want to shop with brands that share their values. Our research shows that 65% already give to charity, and 45% say they’d be more loyal to a retailer with a strong social purpose.

Loyalty drives long-term success. By letting your customers donate at checkout, you support meaningful causes and give customers a reason to return.

Donations don’t stop during peak season. On Black Friday, in-store donations in the US rose 56% year over year.

With Adyen Giving, you can offer customers the option to donate at checkout with minimal effort:

100% of every donation goes directly to charity, and we cover all transaction fees.

In 2025, Adyen will match all donations made through our platform.

Activation is simple: no integration is needed for in-person payments, and a small one is required for online.

Peak season is a chance to turn high traffic into lasting growth. 

By offering a consistent checkout across every channel, using data and insights to increase conversion and reduce fraud, and building loyalty through charitable giving, you can maximize your performance while strengthening customer relationships. 

Learning from peak season can help you build a stronger, more resilient business all year round. By understanding the trends and investing in the right technology, you can set yourself up for success, no matter what the future holds.

Ready to make this your best peak season yet? Access our playbook to get everything you need to prepare for peak season.