- The number of online purchasers on Thanksgiving increased 26%, with an average order value of $180, vs. $168 on Black Friday, according to Criteo, a company which offers personalized retargeting services.
- Our phones spared us political arguments and boring relatives: According to Monetate, mobile page views were up 30% on Thanksgiving Day.
- Black Friday saw a 3.5% year-over-year increase in shoppers and a 12.5% increase in the number of people purchasing. Criteo believes the greater increase in purchasers “indicates that people had done their shopping earlier in the month but were ready to click the buy button when deals became available on Black Friday.”
- In 24 hours, consumers spent $2 billion through mobile devices – a new record.
Couch-Shopping or Mall-Hopping? Tales of Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2017
Cathy Traugot
Thursday, November 30, 2017
It’s official. Quite a few of us would prefer to spend Black Friday shopping from our couches. Multichannel Merchant’s detailed article reports a record $5.03 billion was spent online this Black Friday, up 16.9% from $4.3 billion in 2016. Cyber Monday then stole the crown for largest online shopping day with $6.59 billion. So along with parking our rears on the couch on Black Friday, we’re apparently getting nothing done at work on Monday either. The uptick in online shopping wasn’t unexpected. National Retail Federation surveyed consumers early in the fall and found that 59% of shoppers planned to shop online this year, the first time that online was the most popular choice. In their release on Tuesday, the online shopping numbers turned out even higher: More than 70% of consumers surveyed shopped online only or both online and in-store. And that survey was bolstered by Shoppertrak reports that showed combined Thanksgiving/Black Friday visits dropped 1.6%. Bronto Senior Commerce Marketing Analyst Greg Zakowicz said he believes Thanksgiving Day openings, coupled with the option to buy a doorbuster online, have diluted the tendency to camp out at a retailer’s doorstep. “People are likely feeling less motivated to wake up at 3 a.m. They shop online or venture out when it’s convenient to them. There’s no fear of missing out.’’ But judging by the traffic jam at the expressway exit for the outlet mall near his house, “People still love to shop in person to get a bargain.’’ Retailers with physical locations were likely well-prepared for a potential drop-off in foot traffic. Retail experts said many brick-and-mortar heavy retailers made inventory adjustments to reflect the move toward online shopping. Meanwhile, the online shopping trend showed just one trajectory: up. Some interesting data gems: