US consumers are exploring the internet For online transactions I’m thinking of taking advantage of the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon. cyber monday.
Although e-commerce has now become part of many people’s daily lives, holiday shopping seasonCyber Monday (a term coined by the National Retail Federation in 2005) has become the biggest online shopping day of the year, thanks to the sales and the hype the industry has created to fuel it.
Adobe Analytics, track online shoppingexpects consumers to spend a record $13.2 billion on Monday, an increase of 6.1% from a year ago. That would make it the biggest e-commerce shopping day of the season, and of the year.
Adobe says online spending is expected to peak between 8pm and 10pm on Monday night, with an estimated $15.7 million spent per minute.
For some major retailers, Cyber Monday sales are day-long events that started over Thanksgiving weekend. Amazon began its sales event just after midnight Pacific time on Saturday. A two-day discount offer on Target’s website and app began Sunday night. walmart rolled out its Cyber Monday offer to Walmart+ members on Sunday afternoon and made it available to all customers three hours later at 8pm ET.
Consumer spending during Cyber Week, the five major shopping days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, is a strong indicator of how much shoppers are willing to spend on products. holiday.
Many US consumers continue to experience sticker shock after the post-pandemic period inflationleft prices for many goods and services It’s higher than it was three years ago. but retail sales Despite this, the economy remains strong; continued to grow At a healthy pace.
at the same time, credit card debt and delinquency It is rising. More shoppers than ever will be using it “Buy now, pay later” plan This holiday season, you can delay paying for holiday decorations, gifts, and other items.
Many economists are also warning about President-elect Donald Trump’s plans. impose tariffs Next year, foreign products imported into the United States will be leading to price hikes Everything from food to clothing to cars.
The National Retail Federation expects holiday shoppers to spend more than last year, both in stores and online. But the industry group said the pace of growth in spending is expected to slow slightly, increasing by 2.5% to 3.5% in 2023, compared with 3.9% in 2023.
Spending patterns during the holiday season won’t be clear until the government releases sales data for the season. But some preliminary data from other sources shows positive signs for retailers.
Vivek Pandya, principal analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said post-Thanksgiving discounts were “better than expected,” with online spending during Cyber Week on track to hit a record total of more than $40 billion. It states that.
According to Adobe Analytics, U.S. shoppers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday, an increase of 10.2% year over year. That’s also more than double what consumers spent in 2017, when Black Friday brought in about $5 billion in online sales. According to Adobe, consumers spent a record $6.1 billion online on Thanksgiving. And on Saturday and Sunday, shoppers spent an additional $10.9 billion online, up 5.8% from last year.
Adobe reported Monday that as of 6:30 p.m. ET, shoppers spent $8.7 billion on their online shopping holiday. When the final tally is complete, consumers will spend $13.2 billion to $13.5 billion on that day, making Cyber Monday the biggest online shopping day of the year and in history, Adobe said.
Meanwhile, Salesforce, a software company that also tracks online shopping, estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $17.5 billion in the U.S. and $74.4 billion worldwide. Additionally, Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks in-person and online spending, reported that overall Black Friday sales, excluding auto, were up 3.4% year over year. Online sales increased by double digits, while in-store purchases rose by a modest 0.7%, according to a measure of retail sales that is not adjusted for inflation.
E-commerce platform Shopify announced that its merchants raised a record $5 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday. The Canadian company said its peak sales were $4.6 million per minute, with top-grossing categories including clothing, cosmetics and fitness products.
Toys, electronics, home goods, self-care and beauty categories were the main drivers of holiday spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to Adobe. “Featured Products” include Lego sets, espresso machines, fitness trackers, cosmetics, skin care.
Other data shows that foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores has declined on Black Friday, with large numbers of shoppers once synonymous with the day after Thanksgiving now happy to shop from the comfort of their own homes. It became a relief.
RetailNext, which measures real-time in-store foot traffic, reported that its early data showed Friday store foot traffic was down 3.2% year-over-year in the U.S., with the biggest declines occurring in the Midwest. did.
Sensormatic Solutions, which also tracks store foot traffic, said its preliminary analysis showed that Black Friday retail foot traffic was down 8.2% compared to 2023.
Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions, said many retailers offered deep discounts around Black Friday, causing in-store foot traffic to be spread out over multiple days. he pointed out.
“Some of the extended Black Friday promotions actually resulted in a little bit calmer traffic on the day than we expected,” Gustafsson said.
Physical items like toys and electronics are always popular during the holiday season, but experts say consumers have become more “experiential spenders” in recent years, especially as the coronavirus pandemic subsides. It is pointed out that there is a shift to
Jie Zhang, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, told The Associated Press ahead of the post-Thanksgiving shopping weekend that shoppers are “a little more willing” when it comes to “self-care.” He said he was looking forward to “enjoying himself.” There is growing interest in categories such as self-care, such as “gifts.”
Adobe says shoppers are also buying big-ticket items this season, as consumers invest in more premium products such as electronics, electronics, and sporting goods, or “trade up” to more premium versions. points out that the wallet is open.
Brie Carrere, FedEx executive vice president and chief customer officer, said Cyber Monday is off to a strong start with strong shipment volumes over the Thanksgiving weekend. He predicted that FedEx shipments for the online shopping holiday would be slightly higher than the 19 million units shipped during the holiday season a year ago.
But with five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the season is shortened and retail customers are less predictable, she said.
In fact, only four of FedEx’s top 20 holiday e-commerce customers had accurate delivery forecasts the week before Thanksgiving weekend, Carrere said. FedEx also said that although it forecasts low-single-digit growth in daily shipments, it believes many retail customers will experience a decline throughout the holiday period due to the shortened season.
“I think some retailers are going to be disappointed with the volume,” she says.
Kaere also doesn’t expect shipments to slow down much between Thanksgiving weekend and the last two weeks before Christmas because of the short season.
Jim Katsafanas, president of U.S. small business sales for UPS, agreed, noting last week that “we’re going to see a fairly steady volume spike through the end of the year.” ”
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AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report. Grantham Phillips reported from New York.
