Does it seem like brick and mortar stores are dying? That could be possible as recent data shows most shoppers conduct business online. These shoppers bought a variety of goods like TVs, clothing and more, which totaled $6.22 billion in online sales. This was a 23.6% increase from last year and reflects a record high, per Adobe Analytics. Adobe Analytics tracks 80% of the retailers in the U.S. like Walmart, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).
These staggering amounts arrived as many retailers pushed discounts on digital products days ahead of the holiday week.
Over $2 Billion In Online Sales Came Through Smartphone on Black Friday
Last Black Friday was the first time in history to see more than $2 billion in sales from smartphones alone. Approximately 33% of e-commerce sales came from mobile devices up from 29% last year. Besides Black Friday, the Monday following Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday, is another big shopping day.
In fact, this past Cyber Monday had a staggering sales figure of $7.9 billion which topped estimates. This made Cyber Monday the largest online shopping day in U.S. history, according to Adobe Marketing Head Officer, John Copeland. Also, record sales also made retailers continue deals for much of the week following Thanksgiving.
“Retailers have done their part to build better mobile experiences for consumers and turning nearly 10 percent more smartphone visitors into buyers this Black Friday versus last,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights.
More American Opting to “Buy Online, Pick-Up In Store”
Another popular option is to buy online and pick up in store. These “click-and-collect” orders increased by 73 percent from Thanksgiving to Black Friday, per Adobe. Some companies like Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) and Walmart promote this hybrid option as they hope arriving customers will buy more items when the arrive in store.
Currently, shoppers bought higher prices items like appliances, furniture and even bulkier electronics from their phones this past Black Friday. The average order value was $146, which was 8.5% higher than last year per Adobe’s data.
On Thanksgiving online sales totaled $3.7 billion, up 28 percent from a year ago. This made it a record day for e-commerce sales. In addition, Thanksgiving also saw a staggering $1 billion in sales from smartphones up 8% from last year.
Adobe stated that this past Thanksgiving marked the first time that online prices “were as low as on Black Friday” — which possibly stole some of Black Friday’s traditional mall shoppers.
Due to this, mall traffic reached record lows last Friday. Instead, consumers obtained bargains via their phones and desktops. Kohl’s had a record day for online sales on Thanksgiving, and had record sales on Cyber Monday.
On 10 a.m. ET Saturday, Small Business Saturday surpassed a new record of $3 billion in online sales, based on Adobe’s data.. In the long run, the National Retail Federation, or NRF forecasts that holiday sales will increase between 4.3% and 4.8%, or from $717 billion last year to $720 billion in 2018. Low unemployment, higher consumer confidence and the convenience of online shopping platforms all greatly contribute to the NRF’s forecast.
What are your thoughts on these record online sales figures? Please share below!
Article By: Dalton Brewster
