Online shopping outpaced Cyber Monday sales on Black Friday, but Black Friday also saw more online shoppers than in-store shoppers in 2019.
U.S. shoppers made more purchases online this Black Friday, a massive total of $7-billion-plus, than they did at the mall, which hurt brick-and-mortar store sales.
Black Friday topped Cyber Monday as the busiest day for online shopping during the holiday shopping weekend, with an estimated 93.2 million online shoppers on Friday compared to 83.3 million online shoppers on Monday.
While sales on Black Friday have been waning in recent years due to some retailers opening on Thanksgiving evening, it is now shifting toward a day when shoppers are spending more heavily online.
ShopperTrak Senior Director of Global Retail Consulting, Brian Field, , told Reuters that the traditional pattern of shoppers visiting stores has been disrupted not only by online shopping but by offerings like “buy online and pick up in store,” a growing category, which is not included in store traffic count on Black Friday.
A Few of the 2019 Statistics
Thanksgiving Sales online grew 14.5% to $4.2 billion.
Online Black Friday sales increased 19.6%, reaching $7.4 billion.
Store visits fell a combined 3% over Thanksgiving and Black Friday compared to 2018.
Thanksgiving evening in-store shopping increased by 2.3% from 2018.
Black Friday in-store shopping fell 6.2% from 2018.
S. Shoppers spent an average of $361.99 per person over Thanksgiving Weekend.
“What all of this really boils down to is the customer journey has changed, now it can start anywhere online, in-store and end anywhere … and it is about making sure the customer makes the purchase and stays loyal to the brands more than where it happens,” said Field.
What You Need to Know
Moving forward into the 2019 shopping season and looking forward to planning your 2020 sales strategy, here are a few things you should know.
39% of consumers looked to emails from retailers for deals and promotions.
75% of consumers used their mobile devices to research products, compare products or make purchases.
20% of shoppers made a purchase because they could easily purchase online and pick up in the store.
21% of consumers said the reason they ended up making a purchase was because of the easy-to-use website or app.
The National Retail Federation has forecast that Holiday Sales in the U.S. over the 2-month shopping period in 2019 will increase overall, between 3.8% and 4.2% from 2018. This increase translates to roughly $727.9 billion to $730.7 billion.
Statistics Source: Reuters
Need to Know Source: NRF
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