US Thanksgiving Day online sales hit record high

However, the record-making sales failed to meet Adobe Analytics' forecast of $6 billion as some retailers rolled out promotions in mid-October and the raging pandemic has left people's savings rate at a higher level

Washington: Amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic, American consumers’ online spending hit a new record high of $5.1 billion on Thanksgiving Day with a year-on-year growth of 21.5 per cent, according to data issued by Adobe Analytics.

However, the record-making sales failed to meet Adobe Analytics’ forecast of $6 billion as some retailers rolled out promotions in mid-October and the raging pandemic has left people’s savings rate at a higher level, Xinhua news agency reported.

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Heavy discounts and aggressive promotions since early November succeeded at having consumers loosen their string of wallets earlier, Taylor Schreiner, director with Adobe Digital Insights, said on Friday.

Statistics with Adobe Analytics showed that nearly 50 per cent of online spending was on purchase of smartphones, and retailers with curbside pickup service had a much higher conversion rate of traffic to their websites.

Online sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday would reach $10.3 billion and $12.7 billion, respectively, according to the forecast by Adobe Analytics.

“This year’s Black Friday won’t have as much ‘door-busting’ as per usual. Retailers are pushing deals up and promising Black Friday deals to last for ‘all of November and December’,” said Adobe Analytics.

US consumers’ online spending on Black Friday could exceed that on following Cyber Monday as store capacity limits amid Covid-19 will turn many consumers away at the door and pull them online, according to Adobe Analytics.

Foot traffic at Macy’s flagship store, Saks Fifth Avenue and other retailers’ stores in New York is apparently lower than that in the same time of 2019 with very few lines spotted on Friday morning.

Foot traffic in retail stores will drop 22 per cent to 25 per cent year on year during the six-week-long holiday shopping season in 2020, according to an earlier forecast by retail analytics provider ShopperTrak.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) said US holiday sales in the last two months of 2020 would grow 3.6 per cent to 5.2 per cent year on year, reaching $755.3 billion to $766.7 billion.

Meanwhile, the NFR said US online sales and other non-store sales would increase 20 per cent to 30 per cent year on year in the range of $202.5 billion to $218.4 billion in November and December, which is higher than $189.1 billion projected by Adobe Analytics.

The shift to digital will be permanent and mall-traffic and department-store visits will be challenged going forward, Robert Samuels, consumer analyst with UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a statement on Friday.

The share of US e-commerce industry in total retail sales will likely rise further from current range of 10 per cent to 15 per cent as consumers may be reluctant to return to the store, he added.