Study of 1 Million+ Orders Reveals E-Commerce Merchants Could Be Wasting 30-40% of Advertising Budget on Wrong Hours

Aligning ad budgets with customer shopping hours could improve return on ad spend by 20-35%, SureBright’s transaction analysis suggests

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 10, 2026 /⁨EINPresswire.com⁩/ – SureBright, an AI-powered warranty platform for e-commerce merchants, has released a new analysis of more than 1.1 million orders across the U.S. and Canada. The study reveals when customers are most likely to buy online, and how aligning ad budgets with those patterns can lift return on ad spend by up to 35%.

As customer acquisition costs rise, many merchants may be overlooking one of the most important drivers of performance: timing. Most merchants already recognize the importance of seasonal shopping peaks. The SureBright study found that November and December account for 36.6% of annual order volume, confirming this as the highest-intent shopping period of the year.

But crucially, the research also uncovered another pattern: demand is highly concentrated within specific hours of the day. Nearly 36% of daily orders occur between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. (buyer’s local time), suggesting that when merchants advertise may be almost as important as how much they spend.

To help merchants better align advertising investments with actual customer behavior, SureBright has released “Align Ad Spend with Customer Shopping Timing: Learnings from 1 Million+ Orders Data,” a research-driven guide that translates large-scale transaction data into actionable recommendations for budget allocation, campaign scheduling, and device-specific advertising strategies.

Key Findings The analysis identified several significant patterns in online shopping behavior: 36.6% of annual orders occur during November and December, with December accounting for 19.9% of annual order volume and November contributing 16.7%. Nearly 36% of daily orders are placed between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time across the U.S. and Canada, making midday the most valuable advertising window of the day. Mobile shoppers remain active later than desktop shoppers, with U.S. mobile purchasing activity staying elevated through 10-11 p.m. while desktop activity declines significantly after 7 p.m. Canadian consumers show stronger evening purchasing behavior, while U.S. consumers are more active in the morning, creating opportunities for market-specific campaign timing. Orders above $1,000 peak at 11 a.m., two hours earlier than purchases under $200, suggesting that higher-value purchases follow different shopping patterns. Merchants that align budgets with high-intent shopping periods may improve campaign efficiency, with modeled estimates suggesting potential customer acquisition cost improvements of 15-25% and return on ad spend improvements of 20-35%, depending on category, channel mix, and execution.

Why timing matters The findings suggest that many merchants focus heavily on audience targeting, creative optimization, and bidding strategies while underutilizing timing as a performance lever. By incorporating seasonal planning, dayparting, and device-specific campaign management into their advertising strategies, merchants can allocate budgets more effectively during periods when consumers are most likely to purchase.

“The biggest takeaway from this research is that demand is far more concentrated than many merchants realize,” said Manish Chauhan, SureBright’s CEO. “Most advertising teams spend significant effort determining who to target, but fewer optimize for when customers are most likely to buy. Our analysis suggests timing can be one of the most overlooked opportunities to improve advertising efficiency without increasing overall spend.”

Beyond advertising, the report also highlights how shopping-timing insights can support broader operational planning, including inventory management, fulfillment scheduling, and customer support staffing during peak demand periods.

Methodology The findings are based on a limited anonymized sample of 1.1 million e-commerce transactions from SureBright’s proprietary dataset. It contains orders across 20+ product categories from businesses across the United States and Canada. The analysis carefully ensured aggregation and anonymization using industry-standard privacy practices.

Transaction activity was analyzed across seasonal, hourly, geographic, and device dimensions. Order times were evaluated using each merchant’s local time-zone to reflect actual purchasing behavior.

The complete report includes: Detailed hourly shopping behavior analysis Seasonal budget allocation recommendations Device-specific advertising frameworks U.S. and Canadian market comparisons Practical implementation guidance for Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and Meta campaigns Merchants can use these findings to audit their current campaign schedules and identify where budget is being spent outside peak purchasing windows.

Read the full report here. More information about SureBright is available at www.surebright.com.

Anne K Wheeler https://www.linkedin.com/company/tig-global-pr +1 502-322-7736