Driven by markdowns, Black Friday sales came in better than expected and surpassed 2023’s numbers. And it looks like Cyber Monday/Cyber Week is keeping up the sales momentum.
On Tuesday, Amazon released a statement that cited a study from Profitero, the e-commerce analytics firm, which found that Amazon “had the lowest online prices entering the holiday season, on average 14 percent lower, compared to other leading retailers in the U.S. for the eighth year in a row,” the online giant said.
Amazon said its Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday holiday shopping event, which ran from Nov. 21 through Dec. 2, “was its biggest ever compared to the same 12-day period ending on Cyber Monday in prior years. The deal event saw record sales and a record number of items sold.”
Amazon said in the U.S., some of the bestselling product categories included electronics, toys and beauty, “with popular items such as Beats headphones and earbuds, Samsung TVs, Barbie, Play-doh, Shark vacuums and air purifiers, and Medicube beauty devices and skin care topping the charts.”
In an assessment of sales so far, Nikki Baird, vice president of strategy and product at Aptos, a retail technology company, said, “I think we saw both financially stressed consumers and consumers willing to spend. And sometimes from the same consumers at the same time. I still think overall the holiday will be better than predicted, by a little bit.”
Baird said shoppers are craving deals and are “just as willing to switch retailers to find a deal as ever, but they are also going to the stores they know and love, seeking great experiences and discovery.”
Matt Pavich, senior director of strategy and innovation at Revionics, an Aptos Company serving retailers with price optimization solutions, agreed and said shoppers remain very budget-conscious and are looking for deals. “They aren’t willing to spend their funds on poor value or poor experiences,” he said. “Downtrading and the search for better promotions on the items shoppers care most about remains a consistent theme in 2024 and is continuing into the holiday season.”
When asked what retailers need to do to maintain the sales momentum, Baird said focusing on the value proposition and customer experience “is going to be what it takes to win. The American consumer has been more resilient than anyone could have expected. But that isn’t a free pass for retailers to under-invest in their stores. They need to make investments in labor, customer experience tech and digital transformation. It has been too easy to kick the can down the road until you suddenly realize there’s no road left.”
Pavich said pricing is key for retail success this holiday season “With so many factors to consider, retailers need to move smartly and adjust quickly if needed to ensure that results are maximized,” he explained. “I do think electronic shelf labels [ESLs] will play a bigger role this year — enabling some retailers to discount faster as needed based on market dynamics and inventory.”
Looking ahead, Baird cautioned about shipping cutoffs. She said 2023, Christmas was on a Monday, which was problematic because getting deliveries on Sunday was more difficult. “Basically, if you didn’t get it by that Friday before, you risked not getting it,” Baird said. “This year, Christmas is on a Wednesday, which means you have Monday and possibly Tuesday as well. So even though the season is shorter, I think the shipping cutoffs may come later. And there is actually a little more ‘time’ for last minute-itis. You can feel like you’re done if you go to the store that weekend before, but if you forgot something you can still dash out to pick it up on Monday/Tuesday.”
