Black Friday marks one of the most profitable days of the retail sector right behind Cyber Monday. Every year shoppers mark this day as a bargain festival with door buster deals from stores like Best Buy and Target. However consumer expectations change and consumers have more information on hand than before. More shoppers are switching to online marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay for better deals and non-taxable purchases. We will identify the winners of the biggest holiday shopping weekend.
Of the brick and mortar stores, Wal Mart was king. It had the most sales compared to every other store. Best Buy came a far second while the rest lagged far behind.
Analysts predicted that holiday sales would be only a 1.6% in holiday sales versus last year's 3.5%. The reasoning is that consumer confidence is lower and that the holiday environment is too intense and possibly violent. Gift spending is smaller per consumer, but that is due to the increase of holiday shoppers, both online and offline. 51% of those people polled said economic concerns would affect their holiday spending plans and 79.5% said they plan to spend less overall during the Holiday.
$1.964 billion was the overall online sales for Thanksgiving and Black Friday - up over 18.5% from 2012
Also important to note is that social media does not correlate with sales. Although there is a high likelihood of indirect impacts such as viral marketing and referrals.
With the advent of smartphones and mobile devices, there is less asymmetrical information. Shoppers are information rich and can easily do arbitrage shopping with extreme convenience, defeating impulsive buying and panic sales.
Mobile sales reached 21.8% of total online sales - that’s an increase of nearly 43% from last year.
Therefore the winners relative to last year are the online marketplaces which accounted for the most sales. Amazon and Ebay are responsible for the highest sales during Cyber Monday and will continue to do so with their cost-cutting prices and increased convenience (Same-day shipping, Sunday shipping).
Of the brick and mortar stores, Wal Mart was king. It had the most sales compared to every other store. Best Buy came a far second while the rest lagged far behind.
Analysts predicted that holiday sales would be only a 1.6% in holiday sales versus last year's 3.5%. The reasoning is that consumer confidence is lower and that the holiday environment is too intense and possibly violent. Gift spending is smaller per consumer, but that is due to the increase of holiday shoppers, both online and offline. 51% of those people polled said economic concerns would affect their holiday spending plans and 79.5% said they plan to spend less overall during the Holiday.
$12.3 billion was the overall brick-and mortar store sales for Thanksgiving and Black Friday 2013 - up 2.3% from 2012
$1.964 billion was the overall online sales for Thanksgiving and Black Friday - up over 18.5% from 2012
Also important to note is that social media does not correlate with sales. Although there is a high likelihood of indirect impacts such as viral marketing and referrals.
With the advent of smartphones and mobile devices, there is less asymmetrical information. Shoppers are information rich and can easily do arbitrage shopping with extreme convenience, defeating impulsive buying and panic sales.
Increase of 46% for Amazon and 20% for eBay compared to last year’s ‘Cyber Weekend’.
Therefore the winners relative to last year are the online marketplaces which accounted for the most sales. Amazon and Ebay are responsible for the highest sales during Cyber Monday and will continue to do so with their cost-cutting prices and increased convenience (Same-day shipping, Sunday shipping).
