Online sales grew significantly on Thanksgiving, and early results from Black Friday suggest a similar performance, according to Adobe Digital Insights.
The 2017 holiday season is projected to be the biggest e-commerce season ever, and with many retailers counting on the holidays to redeem their lackluster performances so far this year, these early figures are a good sign for those that have invested heavily in online channels.
- Thanksgiving Day e-commerce sales totaled $2.87 billion, up 18.3% year-over-year (YoY). This strong growth represents a return to form from the 12% YoY growth the holiday saw last year, and gets it closer to the 25% YoY jump seen on Thanksgiving in 2015. Thanksgiving Day 2017 also reportedly featured the biggest discounts on apparel, computers, and sporting goods, and many retailers are expected to have sold out of product categories like appliances, tablets, and televisions, even before Black Friday arrived.
- Early Black Friday results suggest a comparable performance. As of 10 a.m. (EST), Black Friday had already racked up $640 million in e-commerce sales, which is up 18.4% YoY, putting it on an almost identical trajectory to Thanksgiving Day. This bodes well for Cyber Monday and the remainder of the holiday season, as consistent growth of approximately 18% would be a good haul for most retailers.
Retailers must offer a quality mobile experience, as smartphones are now leading all devices in traffic. Smartphones accounted for 46% of shopping traffic from November 1 through Thanksgiving 2017, while desktop made up 44%, and tablets drove the remaining 10%. During the 2016 holiday season up to Cyber Monday, smartphones made up 39% of traffic, so the channel has certainly made a jump.
However, despite smartphones’ leading position in traffic this year, they only accounted for 29% of purchases, with desktop holding 59%. This suggests there are a lot of missed sales on mobile, and while some of the difference can likely be attributed to product research before trips to the store, retailers must improve their mobile conversion rates. Last-minute mobile improvements and mobile-specific deals may boost conversion and avoid lost sales to competitors, as once consumers leave a mobile site or app, there is no guarantee they will come back or go to the corresponding brick-and-mortar location.
SOURCE: Business Insider