The 2020 holiday shopping season to surpass $189 billion in sales, the biggest shopping season yet
Adobe yesterday released its online shopping predictions for the 2020 holiday seasonOpens a new window . The data is based on Adobe Analytics that surveyed over a trillion website interactions from 80 of the 100 largest retailers in the U.S.
The report predicts this year, holiday sales in the U.S. will surpass $189 billion, increasing by a significant 33% YoY. The massive growth in customer spending could be attributed to stimulus payments and pent-up demand due to store closures across the country for most of the year. The report also indicates that in large parts of the country, customers are expected to spend an additional $11 billion online, surpassing a total of $200 billion (47% YoY increase).
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Cyber Week To Stretch in Cyber Months: What Do November and December Have in Store for Retailers?
The report predicts that online sales will surpass $2 billion every day between November 1 through 21 and increase to $3 billion per day from November 22 to December 3. In addition to increased customer spending across the entire months, Black Friday is projected to net $10 billion in online sales, a massive 39% jump from last year. Despite a big Black Friday sale, Cyber Monday will remain the biggest online shopping day of the year with $12.7 billion in sales, signaling a 35% increase YoY.
This year, Americans are also expected to shell out $28.1 billion more on smartphone purchases than 2019, accounting for 42% of all online sales – a 55% increase YoY. This comes at the backdrop of the latest iPhone launch earlier this month.
The holiday shopping season is expected to revive small retailers’ revenues, with a 107% increase in spending predicted. On the other hand, large retailers will witness an 84% boost.
Also read: Holiday Shopping Predictions 2020: Consumers Will Spend 1B Hours on Mobile
The election week is predicted to bring in $16.3 billion in online sales. On the day after the election, Adobe projects an 11% dip than the full week.
“As retailers adapt to consumers’ new behaviors in this pandemic, we expect earlier discounts, more shipping and pickup options and uncertainty around in-store purchases to drive this year’s online holiday sales to record highs,†said John Copeland, head of marketing and customer insights at Adobe. “This year is unlike any in the past, and for the first time we are no longer referring to peak holiday sales as Cyber Week – it’s now Cyber Month.â€
Discounts and Offers To Drive Sales
Holiday discounting is expected to drive sales within the first two weeks of November and build to the deepest category price drops over Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Here are some of the discount patterns:
- Black Friday remains the best day to get discounts on appliances (discounted by 11% on average) and TVs (19%).
- Computers are expected to be the cheapest (average discounts: 18%) on Small Business Saturday (November 28).
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- Saturday, November 29, will offer the best discounts for toys, and sporting goods will be at their cheapest in December.
- December 26 will see the best prices on tools and home improvement items (12%).
Delivery and Pickup Trends:
Affordable shipping options will be in high demand, with 64% of customers stating that they’ll not pay for fast shipping this year. Additionally, curbside pickup will remain a popular option amid shopping concerns. Customers are expected to increasingly prefer buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) channels now including curbside pickup. This trend will primarily be driven by convenience and safety concerns.
Overall, the 2020 holiday season shopping trends indicate strong demand expected to help retailers and etailers make up for the slow growth witnessed throughout this year.