Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend proved a slam dunk for some retailers this year, as Adobe Analytics data shows that consumers spent more than $38 billion industry-wide in the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, up 7.8 percent year over year.
And apparel continued to be a top category for many BFCM weekend shoppers, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). Forty-nine percent of consumers surveyed indicated that they spent on clothing and accessories over the five-day holiday weekend.
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That trend could be indicative of an overall consumer interest in purchasing clothing and accessories this season. According to Adobe Analytics’ data, apparel “won” Cyber Monday, charting a 189 percent increase in online sales compared to an average day in October 2023. Between Nov. 1-27, that data shows that apparel spend has hit $19.2 billion.
Per NRF, the average surveyed consumer spent about $321 on holiday-related items, with 70 percent of that—just over $226—spent on gifts. The trade group’s data does not indicate what consumers spent on themselves or their homes.
Per Adobe Analytics, consumers scored, on average, 23 percent off apparel products this Cyber Week. Meanwhile, data from payment platforms Square and Afterpay, the buy now pay later giant, shows the industry-agnostic average discount rate came in at 22 percent, just one percentage point lower.
Square told Sourcing Journal that online discounts outshone in-store discounts, on average: 28 percent compared to 14 percent, respectively.
And heavy discounts drew a record-high number of consumers to scour for deals. According to NRF, 200.4 million shoppers took part in the BFCM weekend—and 55 percent of consumers reported that sales and discounts drove their Thanksgiving weekend purchases.
Some 121.4 million of those consumers took to the stores, down from 122.7 million in 2022, per NRF.
NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said that consumer behavior seems to be getting back to what it used to be.
“This [year’s figure] is also in line with the pre-pandemic high of 124 million in-store shoppers in 2019, so we continue to see a return to pre-pandemic holiday shopping behavior with elevated in-store holiday shopping,” he said.
Placer.ai, the footfall tracking company, also found a strong uptick in visits during Black Friday. It pointed to a “massive jump” in visits to enclosed malls, open-air shopping centers and outlet malls on the day after Thanksgiving versus “all days prior” in 2023, according to Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing, for Placer.ai. Traffic was up at apparel retailers (200 percent), traditional malls (nearly 300 percent) and department stores (nearly 334 percent).
“Yet, beyond the obvious values of these visit surges was the fact that the relative increases were higher in 2023 than in the year prior,” he added. “This behavior deepens the thought that Black Friday remains the most significant retail day for most retail categories and retailers, but also that the value orientation of the day was even more of a draw considering the wider economic context that has dominated headlines in recent months.”
Despite strong foot traffic in physical locations, the Square data shows that e-commerce carts still came in 3.9 times larger than their in-person counterparts.
NRF’s data shows the number of online shoppers rose to 134.2 million, up from 130.2 million in 2022. The record-high number of online Thanksgiving weekend shoppers—145.4 million—still belongs to 2020, as consumers found themselves in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shay said consumers’ interest in spending on discounted items made for a successful holiday weekend.
“It was [a] fabulous turnout, and we attribute that turnout to a number of factors. [It] certainly speaks to the way consumers are feeling but also the deals that were out there and the opportunities that retailers provided on goods, on items, on gifts that consumers wanted,” said Shay.
NRF reported that consumers say they’re already about halfway done with their holiday shopping.
And Shay noted that shoppers will likely continue the hunt for discounts and deals in December.
“I think it’s fair to expect based on what they’ve told us they’re going to continue to look for promotions and bargains and opportunities that help them stretch the family budget,” he said.
Consumers still looking to save on gifts they’ve not yet purchased may be in luck. The Adobe Analytics data shows that apparel discount rates have, so far, lingered around 14 percent.
Those on a budget have also shown an increased reliance on buy now, pay later (BNPL) platforms, like Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm.
In October, Adobe projected that BNPL would drive $17 billion in online spending, up nearly 17 percent year over year.
The firm’s new data shows that November 2023 is projected to be the biggest month ever for BNPL transactions. Between Nov. 1-27, consumers have spent $8.3 billion through BNPL apps. On Cyber Monday alone, consumers spent $940 million online using BNPL platforms, up 45.5 percent year over year.
Per Afterpay, the service saw a 19 percent increase in BNPL transactions year over year.
And data from Splitit showed that BNPL users outspent their counterparts using more traditional spending methods. Those using BNPL spent, on average, $598 on Black Friday, while those opting not to use the services spent $452 on average.
Based on Afterpay data, fashion and beauty were the two largest categories for BNPL spending over the five-day shopping spree.
While NRF’s data does not specifically reference those kinds of transactions, Shay said the trade group has seen a growing interest in BNPL.
“We have seen a real uptick in these kinds of programs, and I think it’s an example of the market being responsive to consumer needs and expectations—giving them flexibility, giving them an opportunity to manage their budgets, their spending… over time for themselves and their families,” Shay said.
In line with Deloitte and NRF’s projections that gift cards would be king this holiday season, Square and Afterpay reported that consumers purchased 338,000 gift cards, either online or in person, over BFCM weekend. Retail came in as the second-most-popular purchase for a gift card, just behind food and beverage.
Earlier this season, NRF forecasted 3 to 4 percent growth in retail sales for the holiday shopping season. Shay said in looking at Cyber Week results, the organization still anticipates that will be the case.
“We’re confident and comfortable that what we saw over the last five days supports the forecast for a healthy season with record spending and real, inflation-adjusted growth between 3 and 4 percent over last year’s record holidays,” Shay said.
