Cyber Monday shopping shatters sales records, beats expectations

Consumers spent $7.9 billion Monday, making it the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history, according to Adobe Analytics figures released Tuesday. The number is almost 20 percent (19.3) higher than last year. Adobe had predicted $7.8 billion.

Why it matters

This year’s holiday shopping season online has broken a number of records and established new trends, including the highest sales for Black Friday and Thanksgiving, the most sales from smartphones, a spike in social referrals and an increase in Buy Online Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)  sales. This is obviously good news for brands, and it also provides a lot of opportunity.

In future holiday seasons, marketers should consider discounts and other incentives well before the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, including a special emphasis on Thanksgiving Day shoppers. BOPIS is relatively new and not at all limited to holiday shopping, and efforts to make the so-called “click and collect” process easy for consumers will likely pay off in the long run.

Finally, it’s become clear that with more than $2 million spent shopping on smartphones on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, mobile shopping is here to stay. Marketers should prioritize an easy-to-use, pleasant mobile experience.

What else you should know

• Customers want convenience. Over last year, the number of BOPIS shoppers increased 50 percent on Black Friday and a whopping 65 percent on Cyber Monday. Adobe says it’s “a sign that retailer investments to bridge offline and online experiences are paying dividends.”
• It’s not just the big box retailers. Shopify reported that its merchants generated more than $1.5 billion in sales throughout the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.
• That’s a lot of shopping. Adobe says that in the 24 hours of Cyber Monday, Americans spent a combined 11,000 thousand years, or 95 million hours, on online shopping.
• Watch your inventory. Out-of-stock messages Cyber Monday cost retailers up to $177 million in potential sales.