Black Friday shoppers spent a record US$9.8 billion online in the US, Adobe Analytics reported, offering a positive sign for retailers facing lackluster sales forecasts for the holiday season.
Demand for electronics, smartwatches, TVs and audio equipment helped boost the day’s online sales by 7.5 percent compared with last year. Consumers extended their budgets by leaning on buy-now, pay-later options, which climbed by 72 percent from the week before Thanksgiving.
Macy’s Inc CEO Jeff Gennette said that the retailer had a “great day online yesterday during Thanksgiving,” as buyers snapped up luxury items, hostess gifts and home prep.
Photo: Bloomberg
The uptick marks a recovery from last year’s holiday season, when high inflation hit consumers’ pockets and retailers discounted heavily to get rid of bloated inventories. This year, holiday shopping is a bellwether for US consumer resilience as COVID-19 pandemic-era savings dwindle and interest rates remain at a more than 20-year high.
Consumers are “now very price-conscious,” Adobe Digital Insights lead analyst Vivek Pandya said in an interview.
US online sales grew 9 percent year-on-year in a separate Salesforce Inc gauge, driven by footwear, sporting goods, health and beauty. Clothing, home and beauty showed the biggest discounts.
Online sales for the days leading up to Cyber Monday, today, could give companies an early sense of holiday-season performance as they await slower brick-and-mortar data. Yet initial forecasts for this month and next month point to dismal sales growth.
In the US, Salesforce predicted online sales would grow 1 percent during that period compared to last year, the slowest pace in at least five years. Adobe expects revenue to grow 4.8 percent, far behind the pre-pandemic average annual rate of 13 percent. The two companies analyze different transactions, which accounts for the variation in numbers.
Canada-based e-commerce marketplace Shopify Inc said global Black Friday sales rose 22 percent annually, led by clothing, personal care and jewelry.
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