CYBER SHOPPING SPREE
Mobile phones dominate brick-and-mortar in U.S. Thanksgiving holiday spending,
E-commerce’s unrelenting march toward domination of the retail industry accelerated during the Thanksgiving holiday, as Americans spent billions more shopping online than they did last year.
Crowds still flocked to stores to scoop up deals on televisions, toys and clothing. But the big driver of America’s five-day shopping spree that starts on Thanksgiving was the mobile phone, not the mall.
Americans spent $19.62 billion (U.S.) shopping online over the five days, about $2.6 billion more than they spent during the same period last year, according to Adobe Analytics, which has tracked online shopping for years.
While the shift away from stores has been happening for years, the evolution continues to accelerate. About 81 million people shopped online on Monday, a day of big sales known as Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation.
Brick-and-mortar retailers were aided over the five days by good weather across much of the country and strength in the economy, including low unemployment and a rising stock market.
The federation said an estimated 174 million people went shopping over the Thanksgiving holiday, about 10 million more than it had forecast. The trade group said Tuesday that the shopping data reaffirmed its earlier prediction that total sales this holiday season would increase by as much as 4 per cent over last year.
“We are certainly encouraged that we are starting off from a period of strength,” Matthew Shay, the president of the National Retail Federation, said in a call with reporters. “It bodes well for the rest of the year.”
Older millennials (ages 25 to 34) were the biggest spenders, with an average output of $419.52, the federation said.
The retail federation said about 58
“Black Friday itself is not dead yet, but it is not what it used to be.” CRAIG JOHNSON CUSTOMER GROWTH PARTNERS
million consumers shopped online only, while 51million shopped only in stores. Roughly 64 million shopped both in stores and online.
Because the federation changed the way it analyzed holiday shopping data this year, the group was unable to say how shopping in stores compared with last year. It was also unable to provide the amount of total sales generated, saying that it would be difficult to extrapolate a figure from its sampling of consumers.
The gap in the trade group’s data only seemed to accentuate the strength of this year’s online sales, which totalled $6.59 billion on Cyber Monday alone, according to Adobe.
Analysis from other research firms showed traffic to stores falling over the holiday, though the decline was not as steep as some predicted.
“It may not have been as bad as feared for brick-and-mortar stores,” said Joel Bines, a managing director focused on retail at Alix-Partners, an advisory firm. “But there is no question that physical shopping is losing to online shopping.”
The kickoff to the holiday shopping season is a now a five-day affair of discounts and perks — and nicknames, stretching through Black Friday into Small Business Saturday and finishing on Cyber Monday. Black Friday was second to Cyber Monday for online shoppers, with 66 million, according to the retail federation.
“There is money moving from one day to another,” said Tamara Gaffney, strategic insights engagement group director at Adobe.
The top-selling items on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe, included the Nintendo Switch game system and Hatchimals Colleggtibles figurines, which are popular again this year with children.
Televisions were the most discounted items, with markdowns averaging about 20 per cent.
And nearly a third of Cyber Monday purchases were made on a mobile device, according to Adobe.
Brick-and-mortar retailers entered the Thanksgiving under a cloud of gloom. But after suffering big drops in store traffic on Black Friday in previous years, this year’s decline was slight.
Store traffic fell 1.6 per cent from last year, according to Shopper-Trak, an analytics firm, with many big retailers offering deals starting on Thanksgiving.
“Black Friday itself is not dead yet, but it is not what it used to be,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail research and consulting firm.
The top shopping destinations were department stores, according to the National Retail Federation, while the most popular gifts purchased included clothing and toys.
On Black Friday, the FBI was flooded with 203,086 requests by federally licensed firearms dealers to conduct background checks on prospective gun buyers. The volume, a single-day record, was 9 per cent over the previous high, set on Black Friday last year, according to USA Today, which first reported the sales.
The checks are used to approximate gun sales, although the number, reported by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, almost certainly understates the actual total. Transactions between private parties do not require background checks, and customers who have been cleared can buy multiple weapons.
Firearms merchants dangled Cyber Monday deals on guns and accessories, with discounts on ammunition from Cabela’s, scopes from Dick’s Sporting Goods and, from Bass Pro Shops, an Armalite M-15 Defensive Sporting Semi-Auto Rifle for $649.97, marked down from $799.99.