The results are all in except for the exchanges and gift returns and Cyber Monday set record US online sales of more than $9.4 billion, up 19.7% over last year, according to Adobe Analytics.
Even more noteworthy was the $3 billion spent using smartphones on Cyber Monday, a sign of things to come in retail and e-commerce.
Online purchases by devices between November 1 and December 2 showed 60.4% purchased via desktop, smartphone (34.5%), and tablets (5.1%) according to Adobe.
Online traffic in the same timeframe also showed a shift with 37% of traffic via desktop, 58% via smartphones, and 5% of traffic on tablets.
Conversion rates by device also showed consumers are using mobile for shopping and price comparison with 7.6% conversion on desktops, 5.5% on tablets and 3.2% via smartphones.
Edison Trends highlighted big online sales gains by big retailers, with Nordstrom +60% and Walmart +53%, followed by Amazon with a 49% increase for Black Friday sales although Cyber Monday sales weren’t yet available.
Other retailers had higher average online order value increases during Thanksgiving and Black Friday according to Edison: Best Buy $18, Nordstrom $17, Walmart $11 and Amazon $4, with Etsy, Kohl’s, Macy’s, eBay, Target and JCPenney seeing declines.
Most popular online purchases by consumers were LOL Surprise Dolls, Frozen 2 toys, Nintendo Switch consoles, virtual reality devices, and Samsung TVs.
Amazon has best-ever sales day
Amazon also had a record Cyber Monday with its biggest single sales day ever as online shoppers gobbled up hundreds of millions of products online.
Most popular with Amazon Prime members and other shoppers were some of Amazon’s own products including Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote as well as Instant Pot Duo80, and DNA kits from 23andMe.
Other Amazon highlights:
- The best-selling products in Amazon’s Stores on Cyber Monday in the U.S. included Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, Play-Doh Sweet Shoppe Cookie Creations, Keurig K-Cafe Coffee Maker and LEGO City Ambulance Helicopter 60179 Building Kit.
- most popular toys included LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader’s Castle, Monopoly Game: Disney Frozen 2 Edition and Hasbro games such as Jenga, Guess Who and Candy Land Kingdom of Sweet Adventures
- 25,000,000+ home products ordered between Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Independent third-party sellers in Amazon’s Stores – mostly small and medium-sized businesses – sold more items during Cyber Monday 2019, up 20%, than any other 24-hour period in the company’s history.
In-store did well too
A record 189.6 million US consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, an increase of 14% over last year’s 165.8 million, the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics said today.
The NRF said Black Friday remained the busiest in-store shopping day, with an estimated 84.2 million shoppers hitting the malls and Main Street shops, followed by Nov. 30, dubbed Small Business Saturday (59.9 million), Thanksgiving Day (37.8 million), Sunday (29.2 million) and Cyber Monday (21.8 million).
The NRF estimates 93.2 million consumers shopped online on Black Friday, Nov 29, compared with 83.3 million on Cyber Monday.
“With online and in-store shopping increasingly intermingled, free shipping was the biggest reason for shoppers to make a purchase they were otherwise hesitant about, cited by 49%, up from 42% last year,” the NRF said in a news release. “And the ability to order online and pick up in-store was cited by 20%, up from 15% last year. Other top factors included limited-time sales or promotions (36%) and an easy-to-use Web site or app (21%).”
Shoppers spent an average of $361.90 on holiday items over the five-day period, up 16% from $313.29 during the same period last year. Of the total, $257.33 (71%) was specifically spent on gifts. The biggest spenders were 25- to 34-year-olds at $440.46, closely followed by those 35-44 at $439.72.
“Cyber Week” is becoming a thing
Not getting enough of good thing, numerous retailers have decided to simply extend sales through the remainder of post-Cyber Monday including Target and many online sellers.
The impact of mobile on shopping search and price checking as well as sales is certainly the theme for the 2019 holiday sales season. Also visible is the impact of other channels including orders through social media platforms like YouTube, WeChat, Instagram and Facebook.
Retailers and online merchants are pleased overall, and even with the six days shorter than usual selling season, it still looks like a good one even after the exchanges and returns.
You can read more of Adobe’s Analytics’ insights here and the National Retail Federation here.
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