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Led by online selling and boosted by promotions, the sales and traffic over Black Friday weekend — Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — generally topped expectations in a positive sign for holiday selling.
Strong holiday sales in 2022 were boosted by pandemic stimulus as well as escalating inflation. Sales over the past weekend were still seen growing, according to multiple reports, and there were more promotions than last year — which was in line with plans.
The National Retail Federation reported that a record 200.4 million consumers shopped over the five-day shopping weekend, up 1.9% from last year. NRF’s survey found that 121.4 million holiday shoppers visited physical retail locations, down 0.6%, while online shoppers totaled 134.2 million, up 3.1%.
NRF’s President and CEO Matthew Shay said the turnout exceeded expectations, reflecting “the continued resilience of consumers and strength of the economy.”
Online growth particularly stood out, with holiday purchases on mobile devices surpassing those on desktops for the first time, according to Adobe Analytics. Adobe found that online sales over the five-day shopping weekend were up 7.8% and would have been higher if adjusted for inflation.
"The 2023 holiday shopping season began with a lot of uncertainty, as consumers shifted their spending to services, while dealing with rising costs across different facets of their lives,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights. “The record online spending across Cyber Week, however, shows the impact that discounts can have on consumer demand, especially with quality products that drove a lot of impulse shopping.”
Mastercard SpendingPulse found that overall retail sales increased 2.5% on Black Friday, with online sales jumping 8.5% and in-store sales inching up 1.1%.
Sensormatic Solutions also tracked data from the weekend, finding that shopper visits increased 4.6% at U.S. brick-and-mortar retail stores and shopping centers on Black Friday, representing some recovery as year-to-date traffic has been down 2.4% on average.
In a dimmer take, Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at Circana, believes Black Friday was missing “a sense of urgency” with few doorbuster deals. Cohen said in a blog entry, “Consumers had no worries about being able to get that hot product or limited-supply item (with the one exception of video game consoles).”
He believes the better performance online was helped by more compelling deals, with online browsers able to comparison shop for bargains. Cohen said, “Layer on the increasing power of the younger generations and their propensity to shop online, and we have a new holiday shopping dynamic.”