While many stores were closed on Thanksgiving, the heart of the holiday shopping season kicked off Thusday through ecommerce, as consumers digested deals along with their turkey.
Data from Salesforce showed a bump in sales and shopping activity on Thanksgiving when compared to 2021, as Amazon kicked off Black Friday deals a day early and many brands and retailers are running extended promotions this season.
“Shoppers went from indulging in holiday meals with family to holiday deals, turning to their phones after dinner to score big, fueling digital spend and mobile traffic growth,” said Rob Garf, VP & GM of Retail at Salesforce.
Here’s a look at key takeaways, and the data from Salesforce:
Consumers are continuing to shop, despite inflation.
Online sales in the US were up 9% year-over-year on Thanksgiving to $7.5 billion, while increasing 1% globally to $31 billion.
Online traffic was up 5% year-over-year in the US, and 1% globally.
Mobile gains, post-turkey bounce
Mobile traffic accounted for 78% of all online traffic in the US, up from 74% a year ago.
Sales spiked from 6-10 p.m. EST, which aligned with the time when people were finishing up their holiday meals.
Social media was a key acquisition channel. Share of global mobile traffic referred from a social channel was 13%, up 18% annually. People who navigated to a site from a social channel landed on a product detail page 28% more than other channels.
Increased discounts drove purchases
Online discount rates were 31% in the US, up 7% year-over-year. The discount rate was 27% globally, up 6% annually.
Average order value was $120 in the US, and $105 globally.
The verticals with the highest discount rates globally were home appliances (41%), general apparel (34%), makeup (32%) and luxury handbags (30%).
The highest performing verticals on Thanksgiving globally were electronics and accessories (+26% year-over-year), active apparel and footwear (+17%) and toys and learning (+10%).
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) transactions in the US decreased by 6% year-over-year.
Shopify also saw 6 p.m. spike.
Shopify President Harley Finkelstein shared the following data for Thanksgiving from the ecommerce platform:
- Peak sales in the US reached $1.52 million per minute at 6:04 p.m. EST.
- Average cart price was up to $109.91, up from $105 last year.
- Trending: Three out of the top four products were cosmetics.
