Cyber Monday Set to Soar After Record-Breaking Holiday Shopping Online!
According to Adobe Inc., US shoppers are expected to spend around $12.4 billion online during Cyber Monday, surpassing the initial forecast of $12 billion. This upward adjustment is due to the higher-than-anticipated spending on Black Friday and the increasing popularity of buy-now-pay-later options, allowing shoppers to extend their budgets with credit.
It caps a cyber week that has already seen record spending online, with Black Friday surpassing forecasts at $9.8 billion, up 7.5% year-over-year. Thanksgiving spending of $5.6 billion was up 5.5%, according to figures released by Adobe on Monday.
Flexible spending options, including buy-now-pay-later features online, have helped shoppers stretch budgets otherwise battered by inflation. Consumers used such promotions to spend $7.3 billion between Nov. 1 and Nov. 26, up 14% from a year ago, according to Adobe, underscoring how credit is helping retailers increase spending.
The adjusted Cyber Monday forecast follows a solid Thanksgiving weekend for U.S. retailers, who generate much of their sales and profits during the annual shopathon. US shoppers spent $10.3 billion online on Saturday and Sunday, up 7.7% year-over-year. Analysts are closely watching this year’s holiday shopping to gauge the resilience of American consumers as pandemic-era savings dwindle and interest rates remain at their highest in more than 20 years.
“The uncertain demand environment forced retailers to offer deep discounts this season while strengthening their e-commerce services with flexible payment options,” said Vivek Pandya, principal analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “Consumers have taken notice and spent at record prices during the big shopping days, despite facing rising costs elsewhere in their lives.”
The S&P 500 retail sales index rose less than 1 percent on Monday. Shares of Shopify Inc. rose as much as 5.2% after the Ottawa-based e-commerce company said merchants set a Black Friday record with $4.1 billion in sales.
Average transaction sizes for most major retailers, including Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc. and Target Corp., fell slightly in the first eight hours of Cyber Monday compared with a year earlier, according to data compiled by researcher Attain. The exceptions were Best Buy, Temu and eBay, where the average transaction size of all increased in the early stages of shopping.
The data shows shoppers are flexible and curious about making purchases on new platforms like Temu and Shein, said Brian Mandelbaum, CEO of Chicago-based Attain, which collects insights on credit card transactions. “These emerging platforms like Temu are attracting new consumers and have the opportunity to take market share away from established giants like Amazon,” he said.
Big sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have gradually lost their weight as shoppers spread their spending over a longer period. Still, as inflation-stricken consumers watch their budgets, retailers are increasingly relying on these events to see what products shoppers are snapping up — and then target them with deeper discounts as the clock ticks down to Christmas.
Most retailers recycled the same Black Friday sales on Cyber Monday, meaning shoppers who wait won’t get a better deal than if they had shopped a few days ago, said Kristin McGrath, editor of RetailMeNot, which monitors deals.
“A lot of people are asking if they should wait for Cyber Monday, but this year we’re just seeing a lot of the same Black Friday deals everywhere,” he said.
Hot items included Barbie dolls, Lego sets, the Nintendo Switch, headphones and smartwatches, according to Adobe, which tracks a trillion visits to retail websites and tracks sales of more than 100 million products. According to Adobe, electronics and toys were the most discounted products.
According to the company, total e-commerce sales for November and December will reach $228 billion, which is 4.8% more than last year.
