The 2019 holiday season has concluded, and once again ecommerce experienced record-breaking sales. But what made the 2019 holiday season so successful, and which trends have become the new normal? Analyzing the results does no good unless you implement the lessons learned to further your marketing program.
Ecommerce spending in the U.S. for November and December posted a new record at $142.5 billion, up 13.1%, according to data from Adobe, while Salesforce pegged worldwide ecommerce spend at $723 billion, an 8% increase. Smartphones accounted for 84% of the 2019 holiday ecommerce growth in the U.S., Adobe said.
Amid scant post-Super Saturday reports, Adweek was signaling more Super Saturday shopping took place in stores vs. online, despite Amazon’s modified delivery options, for example, and competition for fast last-minute delivery between retail giants Target and Walmart.
Total ecommerce sales hit $26.93 billion over Cyber Weekend, according to data from Adobe Analytics, as stores went in the opposite direction. Cyber Monday’s online spending reached a record $9.4 billion, up 19.7%, making it the largest online shopping day of all time in the U.S. Store sales dipped nearly 1%, according to RetailNext.
Even with a shorter season and earlier deals, Black Friday is still a mammoth shopping phenomenon, with a record $7.4 billion in ecommerce sales this year, according to data from Adobe Analytics. It was the second largest online sales day ever in the U.S., after Cyber Monday 2018, at $7.9 billion.
As you scramble to finalize your plans and offers for the 2019 holiday season, there’s no better time to take a closer look at your mobile app and mobile commerce strategy. Here are ways to help you boost app performance, deliver the CX shoppers expect and increase app downloads prior to Cyber Weekend.
Alibaba set another Singles Day record this year on 11/11/19, recording $38.4 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) during the 24-hour promotion created as a reverse spin on Valentine’s Day 10 years ago, up 25% from last year. By comparison, Adobe is forecasting $29 billion in total ecommerce sales for Cyber Weekend 2019.
Same-day delivery platform Postmates is going live with a delivery app in the Shopify App Store, in beta during Q3, that lets smaller Shopify merchants offer customers the new option of two-hour delivery as the immediacy wars continue to heat up. Merchants receive email notifications when customers opt for two-hour delivery.
Microsoft has added new features and functions to its Dynamics 365 platform that allow retailers to create product pages with reviews and ratings, based on its Azure cloud services platform that goes head-to-head with Amazon’s dominant AWS offering.
Whatever the reason, the season, or the screen, let’s take a look at how online shoppers kicked off this holiday season. How did Gray November play out from a consumer spending standpoint? On which devices did consumers shop? What were some high volume email send times? Here are a few key highlights.