Black Friday Brings in $1.2B in Online Sales
Black Friday 2013 (November 29th) saw $1.198 billion in desktop online sales, making it the season's first billion dollar day and heaviest online spending day to date, while representing a 15-percent increase versus Black Friday 2012, according to comScore, Inc.
Similarly, Thanksgiving Day (November 28), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 21 percent increase over Thanksgiving Day last year to $766 million.
Cyber Monday reached $1.735 billion in desktop online spending, up 18 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the second day this season (in addition to Black Friday's $1.198 billion) to surpass $1 billion in sales. The weekend after Thanksgiving posted particularly strong growth online, raking in $1.594 billion in spending for an increase of 34 percent compared to the same weekend last year. For the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, online buying from desktop computers totaled $5.3 billion, up 22 percent versus last year.
"While Black Friday – and now Thanksgiving Day – is the traditional kick-off to the brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season, both days continue to grow in importance on the online channel," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Clearly many consumers prefer to avoid the crowds and lines typically associated with Black Friday by shopping from the comfort of their own homes, and we saw a record 66 million Americans do that this year. Also interesting is that the recent trend of kick-starting holiday shopping by opening stores on Thanksgiving Day seems to be having a spillover effect on the online channel. Thanksgiving once again posted a well above average growth rate and is the fastest-growing online shopping day over the past five years, as more Americans opt for couch commerce following their Thanksgiving Day festivities."
Amazon Ranks #1 Among Online Retailers on Black Friday
66.1 million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday using a desktop computer, representing an increase of 16 percent versus year ago. Amazon once again ranked as the most visited online retail site on Black Friday, followed by eBay, Walmart, Best Buy and Target.
Apparel & Accessories Leads the Way for Holiday Category Spending
For the holiday season-to-date, Apparel & Accessories ranks as the leading product category for the season-to-date, accounting for 28 percent of online spending. Computer Hardware ranks as No. 2 at 19 percent, followed by Consumer Electronics (7 percent), Consumer Packaged Goods (5 percent) and Shipping Services (5 percent).
The Apparel & Accessories category is posting particularly strong sales this holiday season as compared to the rest of the year with nearly double its baseline (i.e. January through October) market share while leap-frogging Computer Hardware to be the top-grossing product category. Notably, Computer Hardware is also outperforming its baseline market share for the prior ten months.
Commenting on Cyber Monday, Fulgoni says "Any notion that Cyber Monday is declining in importance appears to be completely unfounded as its strong year-over-year growth rate of 18 percent resulted in yet another record for online spending in a single day. While it's true that many retailers are bleeding their Cyber Monday promotions into the weekend before and the days afterward, Cyber Monday itself continues to be the most important day of the online holiday shopping season. That said, we did also see evidence of early promotions pulling some dollars forward into the weekend, so it is possible that Cyber Monday could have even been stronger were it not for the emergence of this trend."
Top Gaining Product Categories for Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday Period
During the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, Consumer Electronics ranked as the fastest-gaining product category versus year ago, followed by Video Game Consoles & Accessories, Home & Garden, Apparel & Accessories and Sport & Fitness.
Shopping at Work Accounts for Nearly Half of Cyber Monday Spending
Nearly half of dollars spent online at U.S. websites on Cyber Monday originated from work computers (49.2 percent), up 2.1 percentage points from last year. Buying from home comprised the majority of the remaining share (43.5 percent) while buying at U.S. websites from international locations accounted for 7.2 percent of sales.
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Similarly, Thanksgiving Day (November 28), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 21 percent increase over Thanksgiving Day last year to $766 million.
Cyber Monday reached $1.735 billion in desktop online spending, up 18 percent versus year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and the second day this season (in addition to Black Friday's $1.198 billion) to surpass $1 billion in sales. The weekend after Thanksgiving posted particularly strong growth online, raking in $1.594 billion in spending for an increase of 34 percent compared to the same weekend last year. For the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, online buying from desktop computers totaled $5.3 billion, up 22 percent versus last year.
2013 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2012 Non-Travel (Retail) E-Commerce Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. -- Home & Work Desktop Computers Source: comScore, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Millions ($) ------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- 2012 2013 Percent Change ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Nov. 1--Dec. 2 (vs. Nov. 2-Dec. 3, 2012) $22,048 $23,904 8% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Nov. 1--Dec. 2 (vs. Oct. 26-Nov. 26, 2012) $19,183 $23,904 25% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28) $633 $766 21% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Black Friday (Nov. 29) $1,042 $1,198 15% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Holiday Weekend (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) $1,187 $1,594 34% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) $1,465 $1,735 18% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- Thanksgiving thru Cyber Monday $4,327 $5,293 22% ------------------------------------------- ------- ------- -------------- "While Black Friday – and now Thanksgiving Day – is the traditional kick-off to the brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season, both days continue to grow in importance on the online channel," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Clearly many consumers prefer to avoid the crowds and lines typically associated with Black Friday by shopping from the comfort of their own homes, and we saw a record 66 million Americans do that this year. Also interesting is that the recent trend of kick-starting holiday shopping by opening stores on Thanksgiving Day seems to be having a spillover effect on the online channel. Thanksgiving once again posted a well above average growth rate and is the fastest-growing online shopping day over the past five years, as more Americans opt for couch commerce following their Thanksgiving Day festivities."
Amazon Ranks #1 Among Online Retailers on Black Friday
66.1 million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday using a desktop computer, representing an increase of 16 percent versus year ago. Amazon once again ranked as the most visited online retail site on Black Friday, followed by eBay, Walmart, Best Buy and Target.
Apparel & Accessories Leads the Way for Holiday Category Spending
For the holiday season-to-date, Apparel & Accessories ranks as the leading product category for the season-to-date, accounting for 28 percent of online spending. Computer Hardware ranks as No. 2 at 19 percent, followed by Consumer Electronics (7 percent), Consumer Packaged Goods (5 percent) and Shipping Services (5 percent).
The Apparel & Accessories category is posting particularly strong sales this holiday season as compared to the rest of the year with nearly double its baseline (i.e. January through October) market share while leap-frogging Computer Hardware to be the top-grossing product category. Notably, Computer Hardware is also outperforming its baseline market share for the prior ten months.
Commenting on Cyber Monday, Fulgoni says "Any notion that Cyber Monday is declining in importance appears to be completely unfounded as its strong year-over-year growth rate of 18 percent resulted in yet another record for online spending in a single day. While it's true that many retailers are bleeding their Cyber Monday promotions into the weekend before and the days afterward, Cyber Monday itself continues to be the most important day of the online holiday shopping season. That said, we did also see evidence of early promotions pulling some dollars forward into the weekend, so it is possible that Cyber Monday could have even been stronger were it not for the emergence of this trend."
Top Gaining Product Categories for Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday Period
During the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, Consumer Electronics ranked as the fastest-gaining product category versus year ago, followed by Video Game Consoles & Accessories, Home & Garden, Apparel & Accessories and Sport & Fitness.
Shopping at Work Accounts for Nearly Half of Cyber Monday Spending
Nearly half of dollars spent online at U.S. websites on Cyber Monday originated from work computers (49.2 percent), up 2.1 percentage points from last year. Buying from home comprised the majority of the remaining share (43.5 percent) while buying at U.S. websites from international locations accounted for 7.2 percent of sales.
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