Holiday weekend sales top records
A record 189.6 million U.S. consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, an increase of 14 percent over last year’s 165.8 million, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Shoppers spent an average $361.90 on holiday items over the five-day period, up 16 percent from $313.29 during the same period last year, the NRF said. Of the total, $257.33 (71 percent) was specifically spent on gifts. The biggest spenders were 25- to 34-year-olds at $440.46, closely followed by those 35-44 at $439.72.
The survey found 124 million people shopped in stores while 142.2 million shopped on retailers’ websites; demonstrating today’s seamless shopping world, 75.7 million did both. Consumers who shopped in both channels spent an average $366.79, spending at least 25 percent more than those who shopped in only one or the other.
Black Friday was the busiest day for in-store activity, with 84.2 million shoppers, followed by Small Business Saturday (59.9 million), Thanksgiving Day (37.8 million), Sunday (29.2 million) and Cyber Monday (21.8 million). Of those shopping on Saturday, 73 percent were likely to shop specifically for Small Business Saturday.
For the first time, Black Friday topped Cyber Monday as the busiest day for online at 93.2 million shoppers compared with 83.3 million. Saturday followed at 58.2 million, Thanksgiving Day at 49.7 million and Sunday at 43.1 million, the report said.
Adobe data shows record Cyber Monday with $9.2 billion in online sales
Adobe released its 2019 online shopping data for Cyber Monday and the holiday season overall. Cyber Monday is projected to hit $9.2B billion and remains the largest online shopping day in the U.S, growing 16.9% year-over-year (YoY) as of 7:00 p.m. ET. The “golden hours of retail” (4 hours between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. ET) will drive 30 percent of all Cyber Monday revenue at $2.8 billion, as shoppers hit buy before deals run out. During the peak hour (11:00 p.m. ET- 12 a.m. ET), consumers will be spending $11 million on average every minute.
Online sales via smartphones hit a new record, accounting for 33% of Cyber Monday sales at $3.0 billion, which represents 46% growth YoY. Smartphones drove the majority of visits to retail sites at 54%, growing 19% YoY. Retailers have been firing on all cylinders, with BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store/curbside) services seeing tremendous growth at 43% YoY and giving shoppers speed and convenience while creating new value with physical stores.
Additional findings include:
- Biggest Discounts: Cyber Monday had the best deals for televisions with average savings above 19%. The day before Cyber Monday (Dec. 1) saw the biggest discounts on toys (20%) and computers (18%) while Black Friday was the best day for appliances (9%) and sporting goods (6%). Adobe expects the best deals for furniture/bedding (10%) and tools/home improvement (6%) on Giving Tuesday, while December 27 has the biggest discounts on electronics (27%)
- State by State Analysis: Shoppers that participated most in Black Friday online sales came from New Jersey, Connecticut, and Oklahoma. As States across the U.S. also dealt with unusually high rainfall and snow, some consumers have opted to stay indoors and finish their shopping online. On Black Friday, States that recorded more than 2 inches of snow saw a 7% increase in online sales.
- Large Versus Small Retailers: Ecommerce giants (over $1B in yearly revenue) are outperforming smaller counterparts (less than $50M in yearly revenue) this season. They saw a 71% boost in revenue so far, while the smaller online retailers saw a 32% boost. Ecommerce giants have benefited from improvements in the mobile shopping experience, as well as the ability to blend physical and digital shopping with services like BOPIS.
- Top Sales Drivers: So far this season, paid seach has ranked highest for driving revenue at 24.4% share of sales (up 5.2% YoY), followed by direct traffic at 21.2% (down 0.6% YoY), natural search at 18.8% (down 5.9% YoY) and email at 16.8% (up 8.9% YoY). Similar to past years, social media continues to have minimal impact in driving online sales with 2.6% share, but it is starting to be a more prominent driver of visits at 8.0%, up 17.5% YoY.
“Cyber Monday will generate a record-breaking $9.2 billion and become the first day in history where consumers spend more than $3 billion on smartphones,” says John Copeland, head of marketing and consumer insights, Adobe. “Retailers unlocked sales earlier to combat a shorter shopping season, while continuing to drive up promotion of the big branded days including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Consumers capitalized on deals and ramped up spending, especially on smartphones, where activity increased on days when shoppers were snowed or rained in.”