This year's Black Friday increased the number of API calls (Application Programming Interfaces, literally translated) that went through Sensedia's platform by 22% compared to the same period last year.According to data from the global API specialist company, there were over 21 billion requests in November among its e-commerce and payment method clients. The uptime, that is, the time environments were available, was 100%.
Despite the increase in the volume of transactions recorded in 2024, the peak in requests shows that the profile of Black Friday in Brazil has changed significantly year after year, according to the analysis carried out since 2017 by Sensedia.
“Through the requests that pass through our systems, we noticed that if previously the traffic from customers operating on Black Friday was much more concentrated from Thursday to Friday, today it is much more distributed throughout the entire month, with an intensification in the week of the date”, explains José Vahl, Head of Operations at Sensedia.
“APIs are the engines responsible for making digital scenarios move, uniting various industries, from the world of e-commerce to the financial and payment markets, such as PIX. We have noticed that despite the return of purchases in physical stores, online research and purchases continue to grow, which generates an increase in companies’ API calls. Therefore, it is vital to properly prepare these environments to support the volume”, adds the executive.
Lessons from Black Friday
As it is one of the most important dates for retail, both in terms of volume and average purchase ticket, each year Black Friday presents companies with new challenges and opportunities.
In addition to ensuring a robust infrastructure, Vahl emphasizes the importance of structuring dedicated teams to monitor the increase in demand and respond quickly to any unforeseen events. A widely recommended practice is the creation of so-called "war rooms," also known as "situation rooms." In these environments, e-commerce company professionals and technology suppliers work side by side, ensuring agility in identifying and resolving issues so that the customer experience is not compromised.
“In terms of systems, something essential for companies that plan to boost their business during peak online shopping periods, such as Black Friday, is to keep their systems stable and scalable so that there are no problems in operations,” explains Philippi Pereira, Head of Customer Support at Sensedia.
According to Philippi, in addition to preparing the infrastructure to guarantee extra computing capacity, another good practice is to simulate loads, through tests that involve all suppliers involved in the operation to identify bottlenecks and optimize the performance of the APIs.
“During the seasonal period, it is also recommended to plan well so that changes or system updates are approved and implemented only when absolutely necessary. This way, companies can maintain a more controlled environment, which can – and should – be constantly monitored through dashboards created to monitor the most critical elements of the infrastructure and the most important APIs for the business at that time,” he concludes.
