U.S. retailers' strategy of offering early and aggressive discounts appears to be paying off, with online sales during the first half of the Thanksgiving holiday rising by 4%, up from a 2% increase during the same period last year, according to Salesforce data released Thursday.
Salesforce projected that Cyber Week—running from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving through to the Monday after—would generate a staggering $311 billion in global sales, reported Reuters.
The rise in sales suggests that shoppers are responding positively to the bolder promotions and price cuts retailers have rolled out earlier this year, signaling a strong demand for holiday deals.
Based on an analysis of shopping activity across thousands of online stores, the highest volume of online shopping in the U.S. on Thanksgiving is expected to occur between 7 p.m. and midnight EST, accounting for nearly 35% of the total sales.
However, reports from the National Retail Federation and Deloitte suggest that this year's holiday shopping season, from Thanksgiving through Christmas, will see the slowest growth in six years.
This year, there are just 26 days between Black Friday — typically considered the beginning of the holiday shopping period — and Christmas, down from 31 days last year. Even with fewer days to shop, a record 183.4 million people are expected to shop both online and in stores from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, NRF data points out. It marks a small increase from the 182 million shoppers recorded last year.
Earlier this week, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry noted that the electronics retailer had anticipated lower demand between sales events, but the impact was more significant than expected, a sentiment echoed by Target executives who reported a stronger-than-anticipated response to promotions this year.
Department stores such as Kohl's and Macy's are approaching their annual sales forecasts with caution due to a slowdown in sales. In contrast, fashion retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap have raised their projections, fueled by strong demand for trendy and in-demand apparel.
Major retail giants like Walmart and Amazon, on the other hand, are well-positioned to capitalize on what is expected to be a mixed holiday shopping season.
Thanksgiving is also expected to be the best day for purchasing toys, appliances, furniture, and sporting goods, as per data from Adobe Analytics.
