US e-commerce sales surpassed $1 billion for the first time on Black Friday (November 23),making it the busiest online shopping day of the year so far, and parcel operators are expecting
another strong day during Cyber Monday today.According to the digital data measurement company comScore, US consumers spent $1.04 billion inonline sales last Friday, a 26% increase compared to last year. Black Friday is traditionally thebiggest shopping day of the year as retailers launch Christmas sales after the Thanksgiving Dayholiday. During this year’s Thanksgiving Day on 22 November, US online shoppers spent $633 million,a strong 32% increase compared to 2011.
US e-commerce retail sales rose 16% to $13.7 billion during the first 23 days of the November –December holiday season this year, according to the firm. comScore predicted earlier that thecountry’s revenues generated from online shopping will grow by 17% to $43.4 billion during theoverall November-December holiday season this year compared to 15% growth in the same two-monthperiod last year. This would put it far ahead of the expected 4.1% increase in overall US retailsales this holiday season.
“Despite the frenzy of media coverage surrounding the importance of Black Friday in thebrick-and-mortar world, we continue to see this shopping day become more and more prominent in thee-commerce channel – particularly among those who prefer to avoid crowds at the stores,” GianFulgoni, comScore chairman said.
“With Black Friday online sales up 26% and surpassing $1 billion for the first time, coupledwith early reports indicating that Black Friday sales in retail stores were down 1.8%, we can nowconfidently call it a multi-channel marketing phenomenon. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving Day – which hashistorically been a lighter online holiday shopping day – continues to gain steam and grew wellahead of the current pace as more consumers opted to kick off their holiday shopping immediatelyafter the big meal to take advantage of aggressive retailer promotions. With Thanksgiving nowbehind us, we can look forward with anticipation to Cyber Monday, with sales approaching $1.5billion or even higher,” he predicted.
During Black Friday this year, 57.3 million Americans visited online retail sites, an 18%increase on the previous year. Among the most visited websites on that day, Amazon ranks #1,followed by Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple. Amazon also posted the highest year-over-yearvisitor growth rate among the top five retailers.
Among the top selling online retail product categories during the 2012 holiday season to- date,Digital Content & Subscriptions is leading the way with a 29% year-on-year increase as therapid adoption of smartphones, tablets and e-readers continues to drive demand for digital books,audio and video content, comScore explained. Toys and consumer packaged goods are also popular with27% and 23% growth respectively, followed by video game consoles and accessories (18%) as well asconsumer electronics (18%).
The Apparel & Accessories category had a very strong Black Friday to rank as the #1 categoryfor online spending on that day, accounting for more than 25% of all sales. The category hashistorically ranked #2 behind computer hardware, as it did on Black Friday 2011.
Concerning the overall US retail sector, a record 247 million shoppers visited stores andwebsites over the four-day weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day. That represents a 9.2% increasefrom 226 million shoppers last year, according to the survey by the US National Retail Federation(NRF) conducted over the weekend.
On Black Friday, more people than ever before shopped online and in store with 89 millionshoppers, up from 86 million last year. The average holiday shopper spent $423 million over theweekend, up from $398 last year with total sales reaching $59.1 billion, up nearly 13% from2011.
Meanwhile, US logistics operators are profiting from the online shopping boom during BlackFriday and Cyber Monday with USPS expecting 130 million Americans to spend more than $1.2 billionon online shopping today. The National Retail Federation counts on 51.8% to take advantage ofweb-based sales.
“The holiday season is our Super Bowl, with 365 million packages expected to be delivered by thePostal Service this year,” Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products at USPS, said. “Whetherit’s Cyber Monday or any day, USPS will continue to take a leadership role as a catalyst ofe-commerce trade between consumers and online merchants.”
The NRF predicts holiday sales to grow 12% this year to nearly $100 billion meaning each personwill carry out more than 30% of their shopping online. Historically speaking, online shopping grewfrom $72 billion in 2002 to more than $250 billion in 2011 confirming its increasingpopularity.
In anticipation of one of the busiest shopping days of the year today, FedEx offers customers atits over 1,800 FedEx Office locations extra assistance in packaging up their holiday gifts.Starting from $4.99, FedEx staff can pack and ship the gift out on behalf of their customers. Fromtoday until December 2, FedEx Office will also be conducting a Pack, Ship & Give programme. Foreach Pack & Ship transaction during that period, it will donate $1 to New York and New Jerseyfood banks, up to $50,000. The money will help the food banks provide warm meals and groceries tothe victims of Superstorm Sandy.
Europe is also copying the Cyber Monday trend from the USA. In Germany, online retailers areoffering countless discounts to customers today for the third year in a row to boost theirChristmas sales, Deutsche Post DHL reported.
