Economy
30 November 2022
Black Friday-Cyber Monday: Ecommerce up 9%, record traffic
Check out Thanksgiving weekend shopping results from Salesforce, NRF, Shopify and BigCommerce.

Check out Thanksgiving weekend shopping results from Salesforce, NRF, Shopify and BigCommerce.
Spending through ecommerce channels grew over the five days of Thanksgiving weekend 2022, according to results flowing in from across the retail landscape.
Here’s a look at the totals and trends taking shape for a highly promotional holiday season:
Salesforce released the following data for ecommerce spending on Cyber Monday (Nov. 28):
Online sales reached $12.2 billion in the US for Cyber Monday, an increase of 8.3% year-over-year. Globally, spending reached $46.2 billion, which was a 4.2% year-over-year increase.
Growth and price increases were relatively even at a time of elevated inflation. In the US, the average selling price of goods increased 8% year-over-year, while average prices were up 5-year-over-year globally.
Discounts stayed steep to cap off the weekend. For Cyber Monday, the average discount rate was 30% in the US, which was up 7% year-over-year. Globally, the average discount rate was 28% globally, up 6% year-over-year. Apparel and footwear were the top discounted categories.
Thanksgiving weekend overall saw gains from 2021. After Black Friday spending rose 12%, Cyber Monday trends were in line with the overall numbers for the Turkey 5. In all, spending for the five-day Thanksgiving weekend showed 9% growth in the US over 2021, coming in at $67.6 billion. Globally, spending was up a more tepid 2% to $280.8 billion, according to Salesforce
It’s significant that ecommerce spending continued to grow during the busiest holiday shopping weekend in 2022. Any gains over the records posted amid peak demand for goods and online shopping of 2021 are notable, and the forecast this year tilted more toward in-store shopping and a potential pullback due to economic uncertainty amid 40-year-high inflation. Still, the presence of that 7.7% inflation rate leaves an open question as to how much real growth these figures actually show.
Nevertheless, the data is useful in the trends it reveals for the entire holiday season. These figures indicate that people shopped consistently over a stretch of days and took advantage of the heavy discounts that were forecast to be a primary driver of spending this year.
In the elongated holiday shopping season, retailers who can reach consumers directly with offers are finding success, said Michael Scharff, CEO of Evolv AI, which allows brands to continuously optimize their digital KPIs with autonomous technology.
“This year, consumers actively shopped for gifts starting before the traditional Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend,” Scharff said. “Customers find it irritating and loyalty-busting to have the best pricing released as ‘surprise’ last minute deals. Companies with the highest conversion rates delivered personalized offers tuned to the ‘deal hunter’ mindset starting around Veteran’s Day through Cyber Monday.”
Discounts are an important lever for brands this year, but leaders must be mindful that the shopping experience also represents an area where brands and retailers can stand out. In a crowded sea of offers, UX offers an opportunity to relate to shoppers on their own terms.
“While Cyber Monday shoppers are all about finding the best possible price, they’re far more likely to buy when presented with an intelligent digital experience that wraps added value around a great price,” Scharff said. “The most successful companies know how to leverage real-time customer intent and the enormous amount of customer data available to inform this kind of personalization and tune the shopping experience to the season and individual user.”
The growth in sales came on a weekend that saw record traffic both across stores and online.
Over the five-day holiday shopping stretch, 196.7 million Americans shopped across channels, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. This was above NRF’s forecast by about 30 million people, and an increase of about 17 million people over 2021, and is the highest figure since NRF began tracking the data in 2017.
NRF President Matthew Shay said the increase in traffic is a sign that consumer demand remains on the rise, even at a time when price increases are a factor in higher spending totals.
“It is consumer demand that is driving growth,” Shay said.
Here’s a look at how the data breaks down:
In-store shopping: More than 122.7 million people visited brick-and-mortar stores over the weekend. Black Friday was the most favored day, with approximately 72.9 million heading out. Additional shopping holidays also had an impact, as 77% of Saturday consumers said they were shopping specifically for Small Business Saturday.
Ecommerce: In all, 130 million people shopped online during the weekend, which proved to be an area that saw more modest 2% growth over 2021, according to NRF. About 87.2 million consumers shopped online during Black Friday, which was also the most popular online shopping day of the year. Meanwhile, 77 million people shopped online on Cyber Monday. NRF said that a record 59% of online Cyber Monday shoppers used their mobile device, which was up from 52% in 2021.
(Chart via National Retail Federation)
This year brought an “enormous resurgence” of in-store shopping, Shay said, with 17% growth in traffic to stores over 2021. It underscores how shopping is part of the holiday season in America, and people sought to get back out after two years of pandemic concerns.
“I think that reflects the enthusiasm for the weekend, for being out and resuming some of those pre-pandemic behaviors, reliving and renewing some of the family traditions and being out publicly in ways we haven’t been able to for several years,” Shay said.
(Chart via National Retail Federation)
There are also signs of consumers crossing between the two mediums, as Salesforce reported a 9% increase in buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) orders during the Turkey 5 over the prior three weeks. Retailers with BOPIS grew revenue by 38% more than those without it, Salesforce said.
Top items purchased over the weekend, according to NRF, included clothing and accessories (which were purchased by 50% of those surveyed), toys (31%), gift cards (27%), books, video games and other media (24%), food and candy (23%) and electronics (23%).
When it comes to discounts, 90% said deals were the same or better as last year, while 86% of consumers expect to see great deals throughout the rest of the season.
"It's clear from this past weekend: This is a much more promotional environment," said Shay. “Not only did the return to the sort of pre-pandemic behaviors of being out shopping and doing things in person feel more traditional, but the promotions feel more traditional,. It feels more like the kind of holiday season we had in 2019 and previously where retailers were working hard to get consumers out by providing real deals.”
Direct-to-consumer brands also saw marked growth over BFCM, as Shopify reported global increases in spend above 2021 levels.
In a final report on the weekend, Shopify said merchants that use its software worldwide collectively recorded the following results:
“This year, Black Friday Cyber Monday showed us once again that consumers are voting with their wallets to support the independent brands they love,” said Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, in a statement.
BigCommerce, an open SaaS ecommerce platform for B2B and B2C brands, said merchants that use its tools saw big increases on Black Friday. The company reported the following data:
This came after GMV rose 23% on Thanksgiving, while total orders increased 22%, according to BigCommerce.
“Given the soft global economy, this year’s peak holiday sales week is more important than ever,” said BigCommerce CEO Brent Bellm, who noted that “BigCommerce merchants grew significantly faster than overall ecommerce.”
Dealboard has funding and M&A updates from ecommerce aggregators and forecasting software.
Hunter is joining ABG's portfolio. (Courtesy photo)
This week, the aggregator space is active with M&A, IKEA is ready to roll out newly-purchased warehouse management software and Authentic Brands Group acquired a boot icon. Plus, there’s new investment to report for YouTube influencer Emma Chamberlain’s coffee brand and retail forecasting.
Here’s a look at the latest deals:
Chamberlain Coffee, the consumer brand founded by YouTube influencer Emma Chamberlain, raised $7 million in new funding.
The financing included backing from existing investors including Blazar Capital, Chamberlain and United Talent Agency. New investors include Volition Capital, Electric Feel Ventures, L.A. Libations and Noah Bremen, founder of PLTFRM.
The new funding follows the launch of a Ready-to-Drink (RTD) product and coffee pods. Previously, the brand raised a Series A in August 2022.
"Creating a uniquely inviting coffee brand has been my dream for so long now, and having key investors back us allows us to build Chamberlain Coffee in ways that feel fresh and exciting,” said Chamberlain, in a statement. “There are so many products I am eager to develop and projects I'm excited to get working on. With such an incredible team and group of investors I am more excited than ever to see what the future holds for Chamberlain Coffee."
Impact Analytics, a software company for retail supply chain and merchandise planning, raised new funding from Vistara Growth.
The new investment, the amount of which was not disclosed, comes after Impact raised funding in February 2021 and October 2022 from Argentum.
The funding will help Impact Analytics further develop its Impact Analytics SmartSuite product portfolio, which is designed to help optimize forecasting, merchandising and end-to-end lifecycle pricing. Rather than the traditional forecasting approach of basing decisions on the preceding year, Impact Analytics applies a model that includes 150 variables from internal and external sources, while combining recency and history. Clients include BJ's Wholesale Club, Dick's Sporting Goods, Puma and Tapestry.
Selva Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on consumer brands that promote healthier living, closed its second fund at $34 million, TechCrunch reported.
With the new funding, Selva will invest in brands across categories including health, wellness, beauty and personal care. The fund expects to write checks of $1-2 million in seed and Series A startups, while assisting in areas like finance, operations and retail partnerships.
Backers of the second fund include Unilever Ventures, PagsGroup and Obelysk.
Nautica and Forever 21 owner Authentic Brands Group acquired the intellectual property of Hunter, a 160-year-old British outdoor lifestyle brand known for its Wellington boots.
With the deal, ABG appointed longtime partners Batra Group and Marc Fisher to execute retail and ecommerce operations, as well as continue to expand the brand in the UK and U.S., respectively.
“At the intersection of fashion and outdoor, Hunter introduces another elevated global brand to Authentic’s diverse Lifestyle portfolio,” said Authentic CEO Jamie Salter, in a statement.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The investment arm of IKEA parent Ingka Group acquired the warehouse management software platform Made4Net.
As a result of the deal, Made4Net’s software will be deployed across IKEA’s 482 stores and fulfillment centers. Made4Net will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of Ingka, with a headquarters in New Jersey. CEO Duff Davidson will remain at the helm of the company.
“Our business currently requires a better fulfillment operations system with more accurate data that better supports handling for our customers,” said Tolga Öncu, head of retail at Ingka Group, in a statement. “Our goal is to become leaders of life at home, serving more people in an omnichannel reality, whenever and however customers choose to meet us.”
European ecommerce aggregator SellerX acquired Elevate Brands, a U.S.-based aggregator.
The combined companies will be known as SellerX Group. It will comprise a portfolio that includes 80 Amazon-native private label consumer brands in categories including sports and outdoors, home, mobile accessories, pets and consumables. The portfolio will span over 40,000 products.
With the deal, SellerX Co-CEOs Philipp Triebel and Malte Horeyseck will lead SellerX Group, while Elevate Brands cofounders Ryan Gnesin, Jeremy Bell and Robert Bell will remain in key leadership positions.
“This acquisition combines our know-how and diversified portfolios of strong brands with a market-leading technology platform and strong operational infrastructure,” said Triebel, in a statement. “By leveraging our combined strengths, I am convinced we are well-positioned to drive further consolidation in the industry.”
Ecommerce aggregator Society Brands acquired Wolf Tactical, a tactical gear company.
Founded in 2017 by Tim Wu, Wolf Tactical makes products including DC belts, range belts to weighted vest and tactical backpacks.
"I started Wolf Tactical by myself as a side hustle with very limited knowledge of business and entrepreneurship. A combination of hard work and relentless learning allowed me to build it into a multi-million-dollar business," said Wu who will remain as brand president, in a statement. "With the help of Society Brands, I have access to untapped potential that I would not be able to achieve by myself.”