According to an Adobe Analytics research, Black Friday e-commerce spending in the United States reached a record $9.8 billion, up 7.5% from the previous year. This suggests that consumers who are price sensitive want to spend their money on the best offers and are searching for those deals online.
“We’ve seen a very strategic consumer emerge over the past year where they’re really trying to take advantage of these marquee days, so that they can maximize on discounts,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.
The surge in purchasing on Black Friday indicates that consumers are more inclined to spend than they were in 2022—a time of excruciatingly high petrol and food prices.
Given that mobile shopping accounted for $5.3 billion of all online sales on Black Friday, Pandya said that spontaneous buys might have contributed to the spike in sales. He pointed out that social media advertising and influencers have made it simpler for customers to feel at ease making purchases on their mobile devices.
Despite the record inflation and interest rates of the previous year, consumers are still price conscious and are sticking to tighter budgets. The Adobe poll indicates that 47% more customers than the previous year chose to stretch their wallets by using the flexible payment option known as "Buy Now, Pay Later," accounting for $79 million of the sales.
According to the Adobe research, toys, games, and electronics like televisions and smartwatches were the top-selling categories on Black Friday. Conversely, home repair tools did not perform as well. According to Pandya, the best deals on products were closely associated with the best-selling items.
Adobe collects data through the analysis of 100 million unique items, 18 product categories, and one trillion visits to retail websites in the United States. Brick and mortar retail transactions are not tracked by it.
According to a Mastercard review of this year's Black Friday sales, internet sales increased by over 8% over last year, while in-store sales increased by just over 1%.
“I do think the paradigm has changed around the in-store Black Friday experience, the long lines and things like that,” said Adobe’s Pandya.
He went on to say that while purchasing online, customers are "more in the driver's seat" since it is simpler to compare prices side by side and get a better deal.
Retailers aim to attract as many bargain-hunting customers as they can as they are aware of their surge in popularity. Higher amounts of discounting have been announced by companies such as Lowe's and Best Buy. Pop-up stores like Ulta Beauty and Target have started offering 24-hour discounts on specific brands and products.
According to a previous Adobe survey, Black Friday maintained the momentum from Thanksgiving day, when online sales reached $5.6 billion.
With the best deals still to come, Adobe anticipates that consumer spending will remain strong through Cyber Monday and the weekend.
According to the survey, internet buyers are expected to spend a record $12 billion on Cyber Monday, and about $10 billion on Saturday and Sunday.
However, Pandya predicts that later in the holiday season, spending will probably start to decline. Being the final big sale day of the holiday season, Cyber Monday may mark the year's final surge in non-essential goods buying.
“We do expect growth to weaken because those discounts will weaken and they are dictating a lot in terms of buyer behavior this season,” said Pandya.
He pointed out that some people choose to put off their holiday buying, which means that spending can continue to seep until late December. But he added that "November and Thanksgiving week end up being in which the real growth surges occur."
(Source:www.ndtv.com)
“We’ve seen a very strategic consumer emerge over the past year where they’re really trying to take advantage of these marquee days, so that they can maximize on discounts,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.
The surge in purchasing on Black Friday indicates that consumers are more inclined to spend than they were in 2022—a time of excruciatingly high petrol and food prices.
Given that mobile shopping accounted for $5.3 billion of all online sales on Black Friday, Pandya said that spontaneous buys might have contributed to the spike in sales. He pointed out that social media advertising and influencers have made it simpler for customers to feel at ease making purchases on their mobile devices.
Despite the record inflation and interest rates of the previous year, consumers are still price conscious and are sticking to tighter budgets. The Adobe poll indicates that 47% more customers than the previous year chose to stretch their wallets by using the flexible payment option known as "Buy Now, Pay Later," accounting for $79 million of the sales.
According to the Adobe research, toys, games, and electronics like televisions and smartwatches were the top-selling categories on Black Friday. Conversely, home repair tools did not perform as well. According to Pandya, the best deals on products were closely associated with the best-selling items.
Adobe collects data through the analysis of 100 million unique items, 18 product categories, and one trillion visits to retail websites in the United States. Brick and mortar retail transactions are not tracked by it.
According to a Mastercard review of this year's Black Friday sales, internet sales increased by over 8% over last year, while in-store sales increased by just over 1%.
“I do think the paradigm has changed around the in-store Black Friday experience, the long lines and things like that,” said Adobe’s Pandya.
He went on to say that while purchasing online, customers are "more in the driver's seat" since it is simpler to compare prices side by side and get a better deal.
Retailers aim to attract as many bargain-hunting customers as they can as they are aware of their surge in popularity. Higher amounts of discounting have been announced by companies such as Lowe's and Best Buy. Pop-up stores like Ulta Beauty and Target have started offering 24-hour discounts on specific brands and products.
According to a previous Adobe survey, Black Friday maintained the momentum from Thanksgiving day, when online sales reached $5.6 billion.
With the best deals still to come, Adobe anticipates that consumer spending will remain strong through Cyber Monday and the weekend.
According to the survey, internet buyers are expected to spend a record $12 billion on Cyber Monday, and about $10 billion on Saturday and Sunday.
However, Pandya predicts that later in the holiday season, spending will probably start to decline. Being the final big sale day of the holiday season, Cyber Monday may mark the year's final surge in non-essential goods buying.
“We do expect growth to weaken because those discounts will weaken and they are dictating a lot in terms of buyer behavior this season,” said Pandya.
He pointed out that some people choose to put off their holiday buying, which means that spending can continue to seep until late December. But he added that "November and Thanksgiving week end up being in which the real growth surges occur."
(Source:www.ndtv.com)
