black Friday sales predictions 2019
2019 Black Friday sales predictions

It’s already over, except for the actual holiday sales according to the pundits and analysts and there’s not a turkey among them.

Here’s a quick snapshot of who’s predicting what for Black Friday through Cyber Monday as well as the entire 2019 holiday sales season.

  • Adobe Analytics said holiday sales rose 15% from November 1 to November 26 compared to last year. “With the shorter shopping season and retailers starting their promotions earlier, Adobe is seeing holiday discounts already well underway even before Thanksgiving day,” said Adobe analyst Jason Woosley.
  • Adobe also predicts $143 billion in US online sales – up 14.1% over last year; Black Friday sales of $7.5 million (+20%); a Cyber Monday sales record of $9.4 billion – up 18.9%; and a record number of buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) orders.
  • Smartphone sales will make up 36% of online sales this year, up from 16% last year according to Adobe.
  • US shoppers are set to spend a record $27.49 billion online this year during the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, according to Digital Commerce 360, up from $23.63 billion in 2018, +16.3%.
  • The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts 165 million US consumers will shop online and in-store over the Thanksgiving holiday
  • NRF also predicts retail sales in November and December will be up between 3.8% and 4.2% over 2018 for a total of between $727.9 billion and $730.7 billion.
  • IBM’s Holiday Retail Forecast expects consumer spending between Black Friday and Christmas to be up 4.07% compared with last year, according to IBM’s Michael Haydock.
  • IBM’s predictions for spending categories include toys (+15.17%), online sales (+11.36%), casual dining (+8.46%), sports/hobbies (+5.55%), consumer appliances (+3.7%), children’s clothing (-14.94%), consumer electronics (-2.24%), and all clothing (-1.24%).
  • Paysafe’s Chief Business Development Officer Daniel Kornitzer says “Research we commissioned this year shows that seven out of ten Gen Z (72%) and Millennial (79%) consumers now regularly shop online using a smartphone, while almost half of Gen Z (47%) now shop more on a mobile device than any other technology. This year’s Black Friday could well be defined by the battle for mobile shoppers.”
  • Analyst Gerald Storch told FOX News the winners this year will be Walmart Target, Best Buy, and Amazon.
Black Friday 2019 sales predictions

There will be many turkeys enjoyed by family and friends this year, but retailers will be generally happy with sales and consumers will find plenty of deals to go around.

Turkeys or not, we’ll have much more retail and online news coverage and updates over the next five big shopping days for you. Enjoy your holiday if you do celebrate!