A late Thanksgiving means retailers faced less time to offer holiday shopping deals, so many of them compromised by simply starting sales early. According to TechCrunch, the move has paid off, with consumers having already spent $50.1 billion online since Nov. 1.
The amount represents a significant increase of 15.8 percent year over year.
The last time there were so few days during the holiday shopping season was 2013, and retailers struggled to ship items on time.
Amazon started Black Friday deals on Nov. 22 and Walmart started its “Buy Now” deals on the same day. Target has been running various sales and started an early access sale on Wednesday (Nov. 27).
Every day in November has seen sales of more than$1 billion online, and seven days saw sales of $2 billion. That means that 2019 is the first time there have been multiple days with sales of more than $2 billion.
Even just on Wednesday morning, there have been sales of $240 million, which is growth of almost 20 percent year over year.
The total estimate for the season is at $143.7 billion, which would be an almost 15 percent increase from a year ago. The three largest shopping days of the year online are Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving, and those are expected to see increases as well.
The forecast for Thanksgiving is an increase of almost 20 percent year over year at $4.4 billion. Black Friday growth is at a comparable rate and comes out to $7.5 billion, and Cyber Monday sales are predicted to hit almost $10 billion, an increase of 19.1 percent year-over-year — the most ever.
People are expected to purchase items like Apple AirPods, Laptops, NERF toys, and video games like Jedi Fallen Order and Madden 20.
“With the shorter shopping season and retailers starting their promotions earlier, Adobe is seeing holiday discounts already well underway even before Thanksgiving Day,” said Jason Woosley, vice president of commerce product and platform at Adobe, a company that predicts sales. “For televisions alone, shoppers are already seeing discounts twice as deep as expected with average savings yesterday of 17.5 percent. Those consumers who grab their smartphone to do some quick online shopping after dinner are likely to find offers that are even better than this time last year.”
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More