As expected, Black Friday 2020 saw tremendous success online but was a bust in stores, as shopper behavior has been altered irrevocably by the ongoing pandemic. Adobe Analytics reported $9 billion in ecommerce sales on Black Friday, up 21.6% from $7.4 billion in 2019. Store traffic meanwhile was down 48% to 52%.
Another Prime Day is in the books, with Amazon reporting that third-party sellers rang up $3.5 billion in sales over the two days, up 60% from $2.2 billion in 2019, and once again Amazon devices were big winners. eMarketer pegged the worldwide total for Prime Day at a shade under $10 billion, up a hefty 43% from $6.93 billion in 2019.
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.
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.
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.
Online sales on Thanksgiving Day were a record $3.7 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, up 28% from 2017, making it the fastest growing retail day in ecommerce history. It was also a very mobile-friendly holiday, with orders from smartphones representing 36.7% of all sales and driving 54.4% of site traffic, Adobe reported.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are bonanzas for online sellers. But there could be a downside this year thanks to the Supreme Court’s South Dakota vs. Wayfair decision, which says states can charge online retailers’ sales tax, regardless of the company’s physical location. Here are 4 things to keep on top of heading into the holidays.
