Online sales on Black Friday (November 24, 2023) reached nearly $10 billion, according to data from Adobe Analytics: spending rose 7.5% compared to last year’s shopping holiday to reach a record $9.8 billion.
Eighty percent of Black Friday online orders used standard shipping, it found.
Electronics were a major growth driver, with online sales up 152% (compared to average daily sales in October 2023, rather than last year). Smart watches (+577%), TVs (484%), and audio equipment (376%) particularly sold well, Adobe Analytics reported.
Black Friday hot sellers included toys, gaming and games, Bluetooth headphones, smartphones, skin care products, cookware sets, and coffee makers.
This weekend, Adobe expects consumers to spend $4.8 billion on Saturday; $5.2 billion on Sunday, and $12 billion on Cyber Monday – which would be a 5.4% increase from last year.
Adobe Analytics downplayed the impact of inflation. “Strong consumer spending online continues to be driven by net-new demand and not higher prices. Adobe’s Digital Price Index shows e-commerce prices have fallen consecutively for 14 months (down 6% YoY in Oct. 2023). Adobe figures are not adjusted for inflation, but if online deflation were factored in, growth in consumer spend would be even stronger.”
Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights, said on Friday: “The strong online sales momentum for Black Friday this year further emphasizes the staying power the major holiday shopping days continue to have. Consumers still expect the best discounts during these days and retailers are delivering, which is why we anticipate a record $37.2 billion sales during Cyber Week (5 days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday).”
Methodology: “Adobe provides the most comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing commerce transactions online, covering over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories – more than any other technology company or research organization. Adobe Analytics is part of Adobe Experience Cloud, relied upon by over 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S. to deliver, measure and personalize shopping experiences online.”
Adobe Analytics updates its holiday-shopping statistics on the Adobe.com website.
*** Because of Bidenomics ***
The Federal government has consistently proven that when consumers have jobs, they continue to spend money. With an unemployment rate of only 3.9%, consumers spent a record breaking amount of dollars this past weekend.
And as the Federal Reserve increases interest rates to curb inflation, many economists see a “soft landing” scenario for the U.S.. A “hard landing” would have put the U.S. into a recession, however, so far, this is not the case.
Time will tell if inflation can continue to be curbed without massive lay-offs in the U.S. employment market.
I’m a jeweler on Etsy. The last group of jewelry I sold went for an all time high of $350 a piece as my sales didn’t skip a beat. I sold most of my pieces in only 2 hours.
Sell what you can before the next economic downturn.