U.S. shoppers have made history with their online spending during Cyber Monday and throughout the holiday shopping period known as “Cyber Week,” which commenced with Thanksgiving. According to Adobe, consumers shelled out a staggering $14.25 billion on Cyber Monday, marking a 7% increase from the previous year. Overall, e-commerce sales during Cyber Week reached $44.2 billion, reflecting a growth of 7.7%.
Despite these record figures, the growth rate has slightly declined compared to last year’s figures, where Cyber Week saw an 8.3% increase. Similarly, Cyber Monday’s spending growth fell short of Black Friday’s performance from the previous week, which recorded a 9.1% year-over-year increase.
Vivek Pandya, Adobe’s lead analyst, emphasized that U.S. retailers heavily relied on discounts this holiday season to stimulate online demand. The prevalence of competitive and consistent deals has prompted consumers to shop earlier, with Black Friday now competing with Cyber Monday’s traditional dominance.
The spending trends present a mixed picture for the e-commerce sector. Amazon, which maintains a substantial lead in U.S. online sales, has yet to release specific holiday shopping data. However, it promised “millions of deals” during its own Black Friday Week.
In his analysis for BofA Securities, Michael McGovern described the recent Cyber Week statistics as presenting a “mixed” outlook for small- to mid-cap e-commerce stocks. He noted that online growth figures for Black Friday showed a robust 9% increase according to Adobe, yet Salesforce’s report of just 3% growth ranked among the lowest since 2020. Although there was a reported 7% rise in average selling prices (ASP), the number of units sold saw a slight decline.
Interestingly, the emergence of generative AI technologies has changed the shopping landscape. Traffic from AI-driven applications like ChatGPT surged dramatically, increasing by 670% on Cyber Monday and 760% for the period from November 1 to December 1 compared to the same timeframe last year. While Adobe acknowledges that AI-driven shopping is still in its infancy, it has begun attracting attention from investors. OpenAI’s recent integration of e-commerce functionality into ChatGPT, allowing direct purchases from platforms like Etsy and Shopify, signals a new wave of consumer interaction with retail.
McGovern highlighted the potential advantages of AI-powered shopping for companies like Etsy, suggesting that while its immediate contribution to gross merchandise value (GMV) may be limited, positive outcomes from AI partnerships could boost earnings and engagement in the future.
On the stock market front, Amazon’s shares experienced a modest increase of 1%, while eBay and Etsy both saw declines of 1%. Conversely, Shopify rebounded with a 4% rise, recovering from a dip following a platform outage on a crucial shopping day. Shopify merchants reported a record $14.6 billion in sales from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, representing a notable 27% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, Wayfair’s stock faced a 5% downturn, and Chewy’s shares fell by 3%.
Overall, as the holiday shopping season unfolds, the interplay of e-commerce performance, discount strategies, and the influence of artificial intelligence remains in sharp focus for both consumers and investors.
