Are millennials set to kill Black Friday, too?
- by Marsha Munoz
- in Industry
- — Dec 2, 2019
The e-commerce sector is expected to enjoy another bumper year, with digital sales expected to clock in at $144 billion-$148 billion, good for 14-18 percent growth compared to 11.2 percent last year.
Other shoppers were skeptical about how good the deals really are.
"Don't expect the momentum to slow down anytime soon; with $7.5 billion in online spend projected for Black Friday, it's clear that the largest dollar gains for retailers and shoppers have yet to come", Woosley wrote in a statement.
So, what will all this shopping translate into in terms of our internet usage?
Black Friday online sales are now on track to reach $7.4 billion, and shoppers have already spent more than $600 million online as of 9 a.m. ET Friday morning, according to Adobe Analytics. However, it failed to surpass the estimates of analysts, who had predicted sales of $4.4 billion. Yet, it's the sheer amount of data that flows through the so-called cyber network that's hard to wrap your head around.
This year's events led to protests in parts of France, Germany, and the Netherlands, including environmental concerts outside of Amazon distribution centers and shopping centers with human chains.
That's a mind-boggling amount of data.
The researchers also noted that 39 percent of consumers at the time the poll was conducted between October 31 through November 5 had not yet done their holiday shopping.
Overall, IBM projects holiday sales should grow by 4%.
To get an idea of how the holiday traffic compares to other days, we can look at holiday sales vs. normal day sales.
For the first time ever, the majority of Black Friday shopping is expected to be done online.
Thanksgiving Day's record online sales of $4.2 billion - about half of which occurred before the pumpkin pies even hit the table - set the stage for a busy Black Friday and potentially another blockbuster holiday season for retailers, according to Adobe Analytics data.
"I let my husband do the online shopping; I do Black Friday", she said.
Traffic at stores fell 2.1% on Black Friday from a year ago, according to preliminary figures from RetailNext. The site was unavailable for a brief time early on Thanksgiving.
In a past article, we surmised that it takes approximately 55,432,000 barrels of oil per year to power the internet.
Brian Field, senior director of global retail consulting for ShopperTrak, said the traditional pattern of shoppers visiting stores has been disrupted not only by online shopping but by offerings like "buy online and pick up in store", a growing category, which is not included in store traffic count on Black Friday. "So what we're seeing is already people moving into their Cyber Monday sales".
Adobe Analytics estimates Cyber Monday will see a record $9.4 billion in sales, a almost 19 percent increase over past year.
