If you are reading this, it means you made it! You survived Black Friday Weekend, and what a weekend it was! Consumers spent a whopping $12.3 billion, with ecommerce contributing over $1 billion. Ecommerce crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time this year! Here are more details about how consumers shopped and how ecommerce merchants benefited.
Spending Trends
Though overall sales were high at $12 billion-plus, they were lower compared to last year for brick-and-mortar retailers. Since Thanksgiving and Black Friday came in a week later than last year, many retailers were forced to push their pre-Black Friday deals, leading consumers to spend earlier. This year, the holiday season is also shorter, with almost one week less between Thanksgiving and Christmas, forcing retailers to start bargains early. Shoppers spent an average of $407.00 during the weekend, which is about 4% less than what they did last year when the average spending was above $420.00. The reason? Shoppers felt the lower prices would continue through the season, which meant more opportunities to spend later.
The Ecommerce Shopping Boom
Ecommerce, on the other hand, saw an average spending increase, crossing $1 billion in sales for the first time. Shoppers spent over $131.00 per order on Thanksgiving Day, up from $127.00 last year. Some analysts attribute the increase in online traffic to consumers wanting to avoid the crazy rush at brick-and-mortar retailers. Here are some more statistics from the online retail world.
- Amazon ranked as the top retailer on Black Friday;
- Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and Apple came in at its heels;
- Apparel and accessories were the top spending category for online merchants on Black Friday;
- Digital subscriptions & content were the fastest-growing categories.
Mobile And Tablet
Another factor in favor of ecommerce was the liberal use of mobile devices and tablets to shop and search for items. Mobile traffic contributed almost 37% of all online traffic on Black Friday, jumping by 40% compared to Black Friday 2012. Of that percentage, Smartphones contributed about 25% and mobiles about 12%, with the rest of the traffic coming in from e-reading devices. The average amount spent by tablet owners also showed a marked increase, with the average order valued at $136.00 compared to $117.00 last year.