Sales for the Thanksgiving shopping period grew 53% year-over-year, the software company said.
Cyber week sales made through a platform that powers more than 300 ecommerce marketplaces grew 53% over 2021, according to the company.
Mirakl said the sales on its platform over the seven-day shopping period ending Cyber Monday (Nov. 28) outperformed the overall growth of global ecommerce sales, which Salesforce pegged at 2% for the Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday stretch.
Mirakl operates marketplaces and dropshipping for B2B and B2C retailers and businesses. Clients include Macy’s, Urban Outfitters, Maisons Du Monde, J. Crew and The Kroger Co.
Mirakl shared the following numbers from the platform for Cyber Week:
"The hundreds of retailers operating online marketplaces across the globe have recognized what the rest of the industry has been slower to acknowledge: marketplaces are the only way to meet customers' need for selection, price and high quality of service, achieve consistent profitable growth, and not only survive but thrive in today's economy," said Adrien Nussenbaum, cofounder and co-CEO of Mirakl, in a statement. "They have dramatically outperformed the market because of their willingness to transform and implement a more innovative and agile model.”
Marketplaces, in which goods from multiple brands are sold through a common channel, are expected to continue to see growth in the years ahead. According to a report this year from Edge by Ascential, third-party marketplaces are projected to account for 60% of ecommerce globally by 2027, and will add $1.3 trillion over that time. Marketplaces can also lead to a big opportunity in advertising through retail media, and Mirakl recently stood up a network of its own to help brands realize it.
One of Mirakl’s most recent launches was from Macy’s. Ahead of the holiday season, the department store retailer launched a third-party marketplace that curates items across 400 bands and 20 categories. It’s designed to add more items to the ecommerce assortment, while brands handle inventory and fulfillment. On the retailer’s recent call with investors, CEO Jeff Gennette said the marketplace was attracting younger customers in the first two months.
“We're adding new content every single day as we continue to scale this,” Gennette said.
Labor disputes on the West Coast could cause further disruption heading into peak season.
When the first half of 2023 is complete, imports are expected to dip 22% below last year.
That’s according to new data from the Global Port Tracker, which is compiled monthly by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
The decline has been building over the entire year, as imports dipped in the winter. With the spring, volume started to rebound. In April, the major ports handled 1.78 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units. That was an increase of 9.6% from March. Still it was a decline of 21.3% year over year – reflecting the record cargo hauled in over the spike in consumer demand of 2021 and the inventory glut 2022.
In 2023, consumer spending is remaining resilient with in a strong job market, despite the collision of inflation and interest rates. The economy remains different from pre-pandemic days, but shipping volumes are beginning to once again resemble the time before COVID-19.
“Economists and shipping lines increasingly wonder why the decline in container import demand is so much at odds with continuous growth in consumer demand,” said Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett, in a statement. “Import container shipments have returned the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019 and appear likely to stay there for a while.”
Retailers and logistics professionals alike are looking to the second half of the year for a potential upswing. Peak shipping season occurs in the summer, which is in preparation for peak shopping season over the holidays.
Yet disruption could occur on the West Coast if labor issues can’t be settled. This week, ports from Los Angeles to Seattle reported closures and slowdowns as ongoing union disputes boil over, CNBC reported. NRF called on the Biden administration to intervene.
“Cargo volume is lower than last year but retailers are entering the busiest shipping season of the year bringing in holiday merchandise. The last thing retailers and other shippers need is ongoing disruption at the ports,” aid NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “If labor and management can’t reach agreement and operate smoothly and efficiently, retailers will have no choice but to continue to take their cargo to East Coast and Gulf Coast gateways. We continue to urge the administration to step in and help the parties reach an agreement and end the disruptions so operations can return to normal. We’ve had enough unavoidable supply chain issues the past two years. This is not the time for one that can be avoided.”
