HOLIDAY SEASON BREAKS E-COMMERCE RECORDS
If you are evaluating the US market for your brand entry, a closer look at the last holiday season can help you to take the market’s temperature and analyze the online sales (e-commerce) trend growth.
Kicking off the holiday season was a very successful Cyber Weekend according to Verizon’s data, which shows a 29.8% increase in ecommerce traffic on Nov. 24 and a 22.9% increase on Nov. 25.
Then came the December Holiday Shopping Season (from De. 1st – Nov. 24th) which according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, brought in a 5% increase in spending over 2017 with sales in the US (in store and e-commerce) that reached $850 billion.
Online spending grew by 19.1 percent compared to 2017 and contributed over 13 percent to total holiday sales.
On the not-so-bright-side, sales at brick-and-mortar department stores decline 1.3% from 2017, partially due to the many store closings in 2018, according to Mastercard. However online sales for department stores grew a healthy 10.2 percent.
Products Sold the Most
- Apparel made an impact with online sales growing 7.9 percent over 2017. This was the largest increase since 2010.
- Footwear brands experienced a 188.95 percent increase in orders with the U.S. and European footwear retailers saw a 218.51 percent boost.
- Gifts & Hobbies online retailers saw a significant bump of 171.26 percent in the U.S. and 188.13 percent in Europe.
- Home improvement products were popular with consumers, with online spending during the holiday season up 9.0 percent over last year.
- Online sales for home furniture and furnishings category grew by 2.3 percent, and electronics grew by 8.5 percent.
BIGGEST TREND: BOPIS
Buy online, pick up in-store was the biggest trend for holiday shopping in 2018.
BOPIS spending increased 47% from Nov. 1 to Dec. 19 compared to a year ago according to Adobe Analytics. As in-store shopping declines, brick-and-mortar retailers see BOPIS as crucial to their survival. It also appeals to retailers as they avoid expensive shipping fees.
Brick-and-mortar retailers that have embraced BOPIS include Walmart, which offers in-store pick up in nearly all of its 4,700 stores in the United States. Target has drive-up delivery to customers’ cars in about 1,000 stores.
Electronics and clothing were the most popular categories for BOPIS.
With this numbers on hand, make sure you keep a close eye on your e-commerce strategy as it seems to be a steady up trend.
