After slow growth in digital sales Thursday, the Thanksgiving holiday, U.S. retailers pulled in a record $12.8 billion in online revenue on Black Friday, putting questions about consumer strength at ease, according to Salesforce. That represents 23% growth over last year.
Globally, online revenue reached $62.2 billion, up 30% from a year ago. The most mentioned products on social media include Hulu’s subscription offer, the Apple iPhone 12, and Sony’s PlayStation 5, Salesforce said.
Facing an influx of online orders, retailers are sourcing delivery services through companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates to help expand their shipping capacity, said Rob Garf, Salesforce’s vice president of strategy and insights.
The movement to support small businesses gained traction during the pandemic. Shopify reported record Black Friday sales of $2.4 billion globally from independent and direct-to-consumer brands.
Businesses that sell through its platform saw a 75% increase in sales compared with Black Friday a year ago. The vast majority of Shopify’s customers are businesses with 500 or fewer employees.
“We anticipate this weekend being one of the biggest e-commerce events in history,” president Harley Finkelstein said, “as consumers vote with their wallets and support the independent and direct-to-consumer businesses they love.”
Top categories globally were apparel and accessories, health and beauty, and home and garden, Shopify said in a statement.
The online sales record was bouyed by smartphones making up 42% of purchases by Friday afternoon, a 7% increase from a year earlier, according to Adobe Analytics. Retailers with more than $1 billion in revenue had a 52% jump in online sales on Thanksgiving compared with smaller companies, though the gap is expected to narrow “significantly,” it said.
Looking ahead, Cyber Monday will post the largest online sales, with as much as $13 billion of spending anticipated, it added.
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