If there were any doubts over the economy’s strength, this past Cyber Week—the five days ranging from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday—should put them to rest.
That’s because online sales tallied more than $41 billion during those five days, an increase of 8.2% year-over-year, according to data from Adobe Analytics. On Black Friday alone, retailers saw revenues hit $10.8 billion, and on Cyber Monday, revenue was $13.3 billion—both more than last year. In all, Adobe Analytics’ team expects that the full holiday season (November 1 through December 31) will see spending totaling almost $241 billion, which would be an increase of 8.4% over last year.
“While Cyber Monday remained the season’s and year’s biggest online shopping day, year-over-year growth was stronger on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, according to a statement from Adobe Analytics.
“Early discounts were strong enough that many consumers felt comfortable hitting the buy button earlier on during Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday becoming ‘last call’ for shoppers to take advantage of big holiday deals,” Pandya said.
Amazon, too, announced that its promotions between November 21 and December 2 set records, delivering record sales numbers. “We know how much our customers appreciate saving money, and our customers saved billions with us during this year’s holiday shopping event,” said Doug Herrington, the CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a statement.
And while online sales were strong, additional data shows that visits to physical retailers were down from last year overall. On Black Friday, physical store visits were down 1.85% year-over-year, according to data from foot traffic analytics company pass_by. There were certain retailers, however, that saw foot traffic growth: Grocery stores and bookstores saw visits climb more than 2% from last year’s Black Friday, for instance, and jewelry stores saw visits grow more than 3%. Clothing retailers, on the other hand, saw visits crater 6.5%.
Pass_by’s analysis notes that some of that foot traffic reduction is likely due to “economic pressures,” in addition to competition from online retailers—something that Adobe’s data reflects.
“Consumers are gravitating towards purchases that offer value and personal significance,” said James Ewen, VP Marketing at pass_by, in a statement provided to Fast Company. “The increase in jewelry and essential categories reflects a desire for meaningful connections, especially during challenging times, while the decline in apparel signals changing priorities and the growing impact of online shopping.”