Shoppers Spent $100 Million Less on Cyber Monday This Year Than 2020

Shoppers spent $10.7 billion on Cyber Monday 2021, which is about $100 million shy of the record set in 2020. That’s according to data from Adobe’s Digital Economy Index—and follows a similar dip on Black Friday—meaning the all-time highs set in 2020 will stand for another year. This also marks a stark contrast to holiday sales in recent years that only seemed to climb higher. Adobe noted Cyber Monday 2021 is nevertheless the biggest online shopping day of the year so far. Top-selling products included toys, video games and electronics. “One out of every three people in the U.S. purchased online on Cyber Monday,” Rob Garf, vp and general manager of retail at Salesforce, noted in a statement. Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t as important as they were even a couple of years ago.Ted Rossman, Bankrate.com Cyber November The uncharacteristic drops on Black Friday and Cyber Monday reflect what Salesforce called a transition from Cyber Week to Cyber November. The CRM platform noted holiday shopping began in earnest in early November this year with U.S. consumers spending $136 billion, up 9% year over year (YoY). This aligns with survey results from market research firm Numerator, which found 63% of respondents shopped for early deals before Thanksgiving. That’s up from 52% in 2020. Americans Are Shopping More on Nov. 11, But Don’t Call It Singles Day In addition, Numerator found 54% of consumers were mostly or completely done with their holiday shopping by Cyber Monday. “Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t as important as they were even a couple of years ago because the holiday shopping season now starts earlier,” Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com and Bankrate.com, said in a statement. “October retail sales were up about 15% YoY and just over half of holiday shoppers started prior to Oct. 31.” Projected gains Early shopping means the holiday season as a whole is still projected to see gains. For Cyber Week, for example, Salesforce data shows U.S. digital sales hit $62 billion, up 4% YoY. “Cyber Week set a new record for online sales again this year even with demand smoothing out as the month went on,” Garf added. Per Adobe’s figures, this total is $34 billion, which is down 1.4% YoY, but the behavior is the same. “With early deals in October, consumers were not waiting around for discounts on big shopping days like Cyber Monday and Black Friday,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement. “This was further fueled by growing awareness of supply chain challenges and product availability.” The result is ecommerce spend has been spread out across October and November, which is setting the stage for a holiday season that “still will break online shopping records,” he added. Adobe projects online spend will hit $207 billion for the 2021 holiday season, which it defines as Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. That marks 10% growth YoY. Here are seven additional insights into the 2021 holiday shopping season so far: Sparse discounts Cyber Monday shoppers looking for deals were out of luck this year, with Adobe data showing discounts for apparel down 18%, electronics down 12%, and sporting goods and appliances down 8%. In a similar vein, Salesforce noted the average selling price of products throughout Cyber Week was up 11% in the U.S. and 5% globally compared to 2020. Rossman noted this is a trend that benefits big retailers. “Amazon, Target, Walmart and others have the scale to dominate online and to do extraordinary things like chartering their own freighters and absorbing some price increases to get around supply chain and inflation challenges,” he said. “Most Americans say they plan to support local small businesses, but when push comes to shove, I envision larger players winning on price and availability.” Big carts Nevertheless, Adobe found the amount spent per shopping cart was up nearly 14% on Cyber Monday—and up 19% this holiday season overall. The uptick indicates inflation is driving up prices, but shoppers are also buying big ticket items like furniture. Out-of-stock messages That’s not to say finding the perfect gift has been easy. Adobe found out-of-stock messages were up 8% on Cyber Monday compared to the week before. And in November 2021, these messages have increased 169% compared to prior to the pandemic. Similarly, Salesforce found the number of products sold during Cyber Week was down 6% in the U.S. and abroad compared to 2020. In a similar vein, 35% of shoppers told Numerator they were not able to buy everything on their lists. BNPL One of the biggest trends of 2021, buy now pay later (BNPL), remained popular on Cyber Monday. Revenue processed via BNPL was up 21% YoY and orders were up 1% YoY, per Adobe. Salesforce attributed this behavior—which led to over $22 billion in holiday sales around the world—to both higher prices and fewer discounts. Curbside pickup Another trend from recent years, curbside pickup, was used in 18% of all online orders on Cyber Monday for retailers that offer the service. That is down slightly from 20% in 2020, according to Adobe. Salesforce noted usage of curbside pickup is driven by consumer interest in health, safety and convenience as retailers that offer curbside pickup saw orders grow 50% on Black Friday compared to those that do not. Mobile orders As consumers continue to work from home, growth in mobile shopping slowed to about 40% of online sales, which is up 8% YoY. “For years, the trajectory showed that mobile was on a course to surpass the 50% mark in share of online sales, which has since been derailed,” said an Adobe report on holiday shopping. Instead, consumers are using their phones to browse. Adobe data showed mobile accounted for 57% of all web visits on Cyber Monday. In-store shopping 2021 also marks something of a return to in-store holiday shopping. Numerator found 32% of consumers did most or all of their Cyber Weekend shopping online, which is down from 46% in 2020. “As expected, in-store foot traffic was better than last year, but down from pre-pandemic holidays,” Rossman added. Affirm Tells Holiday Shoppers to Pay at Their Own Pace