Price-conscious consumers spent big during the five-day event. Which companies fared best?
The much-awaited Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday (BFCM) event, which spanned from November 23 to November 27, has passed. The result is remarkable, to say the least. In the U.S., the event set a new record, with over 200 million people hitting stores and scouring websites for deals from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. As per Adobe Analytics, American consumers shelled out an impressive US$9.8 billion on Black Friday this year, marking a 7.5% increase from 2022. Cyber Monday outpaced this figure, with U.S. e-commerce spending soaring to US$12.4 billion, a 9.6% surge from the previous year.
A key factor that made this year’s BFCM sales event stand out was people’s savings—or more accurately, the lack thereof. During the pandemic, Black Friday received a lukewarm response because people, buoyed by pent-up savings, spent money throughout the year without waiting for special occasions like Black Friday. However, this year, many consumers saw a dip in their savings. People around the world, battling the consequences of inflation and the need to cut costs wherever possible, heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing discounts.
This Black Friday was great for businesses and entrepreneurs, too, with many making their first sale and others witnessing their record sales, making this Black Friday one for the books. Here, we look at how different e-commerce giants fared and the new trends that emerged during this landmark shopping event.
Amazon’s unprecedented success
This one might be a no-brainer, but e-commerce titan Amazon won big during BFCM 2023, achieving its largest Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales since its inception. Though Amazon didn’t disclose specific financials, it reported that electronics and skincare items were its top sellers. Overall, consumers bought over a billion items on Amazon and allegedly saved 70% more than they did last year. A contributing factor to Amazon’s success during this year’s BFCM sales could be the extension of the sales event to 11 days, beyond the typical five days in other stores.
Here’s an encouraging statistic for startups and small businesses: Amazon reported more than 500 million items were ordered from independent sellers, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses.
Amazon dubbed Cyber Monday its “Super Bowl”, a testament to the scale and significance of the event for the company. To prepare for and handle the surge in sales, Amazon employed artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast demand and coordinate inventory. It also extends the application of AI to quality control its products with robots. Further, Amazon used generative AI to create “synthetic data”, simulating various scenarios that robots might potentially encounter on high-traffic days such as Cyber Monday. This approach was instrumental in training machine-learning algorithms, ensuring smooth and efficient handling of the sales influx.
Shopify’s global sales record
Shopify also experienced a successful BFCM sales season, achieving a global sales record of US$9.3 billion—a 24% increase compared to the previous year. The platform saw a peak of US$4.1 billion in Black Friday sales from its merchants. The most popular product categories were apparel and accessories, health and beauty and home and garden. On average, every shopper spent about US$108.12 on the site during the sales.
The top-performing countries on Shopify were the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and Germany. A particularly inspiring aspect of this year’s sales was the success of new entrepreneurs on Shopify. Over 17,500 entrepreneurs celebrated their inaugural sale, while more than 55,000 merchants achieved their highest-selling day.
Shopify’s performance during this sales event also had a positive impact on its stock value, witnessing a nearly 5% increase in response to these impressive results.
Alibaba/AliExpress and the Singles’ Day phenomenon
This year, China also saw significant success during its nationwide sales event—Singles’Day. A counterpart to the Black Friday sale, the Singles’ Day sales are celebrated on November 11, known as Double 11 (11/11). This event, popularized by Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, amassed US$140 billion in e-commerce sales last year.
In 2023, according to data provider Syntun, the cumulative gross merchandise volume (GMV) sales across major e-commerce platforms during the Singles’ Day sales week (i.e., from October 31 to November 11) increased by 2.08%, reaching RMB1.14 trillion (US$156.40 billion). Besides the usual sought-after items like beauty products and electronics, Alibaba reported a 300% surge in sales of road bikes during the first hour of the event.
Alibaba-owned online shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall Group also observed an uptick in their GMV, with Tmall claiming its sales more than doubled this year. The success of Single’s Day could be credited to extensive promotional campaigns, both offline and online, across the country’s major e-commerce platforms and in brick-and-mortar stores.
Emergence of new consumer behavior trends during Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023
Buy now, pay later wins big
This year’s BFCM sales witnessed many consumers opting for the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) options at checkout. Consumers are increasingly shifting towards this flexible payment method, allowing them to pay for purchases in installments. BNPL usage experienced a 72% increase in the week leading up to Thanksgiving (November 23) and a notable 42.5% surge from last year’s BFCM event. In Australia, transactions using the BNPL service Afterpay surged by 25%. As per Adobe Analytics, BNPL contributed a substantial US$940 million to online spending during BFCM 2023.
In-store purchases slow down
A survey revealed a shift in shopping behavior, with the number of people shopping online climbing to 134.2 million, up from 130.2 million the previous year. Conversely, in-store shoppers slightly dipped from 122.7 million in 2022 to 121.4 million in 2023. This trend suggests that consumers are finding better deals online compared to physical stores.
India becomes an attractive market
Black Friday is a relatively new deal in India, a country that traditionally celebrates Diwali (typically in October/November) with massive annual sales events like Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. Still, the Indian e-commerce ecosystem—comprising popular e-commerce players like Nykaa, Flipkart and Tata Cliq, among others that hosted Black Friday sales—saw a 23% increase in sales over the BFCM weekend compared to the previous year. E-commerce enablement platform Unicommerce notes that fashion and beauty products were particularly dominant in these sales.
Black Friday revelations: When discounts dazzle and daunt
Despite the impressive Black Friday-Cyber Monday haul for both consumers and businesses, not everyone was dazzled by the discounts. Interestingly, not all shoppers concentrated their shopping efforts on Black Friday alone. While about 89% of respondents participated in Black Friday shopping, 45% chose to wait for Cyber Monday to fill their carts. This indicates a strategic approach to shopping, with some consumers waiting for potentially better deals.
The influence of rising inflation has made people rely on big discounts, putting pressure on retailers. Consequently, the sales trends from Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year imply that those unable to offer discounts more frequently might find themselves facing tougher competition and narrower profit margins. This evolving consumer behavior underscores the need for businesses to adapt and strategize effectively in a market where discount-driven shopping is becoming increasingly prevalent.
Also read:
- Jumpstart’s Picks: 5 Black Friday Deals You Don’t Want To Miss
- How Do Stores Get You to Spend More Money?
- Top 5 Tech Trends Defining Luxury Brands
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