November 28 (Portal) – Online spending on Cyber Monday is expected to exceed $12 billion, a record, as bargain hunters bag deals on items such as Barbie dolls, Lego sets, headphones, according to preliminary estimates from Adobe Digital Insights and make smartwatches.
The estimate is that US shoppers will spend $12 billion to $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day in the US.
A significant portion of that spending, about $4 billion, is expected to occur between 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. EST, particularly by last-minute buyers, it said. At the high end, that would mark a 9.7% increase compared to the $11.3 billion spent on Cyber Monday last year.
Using push notifications, text messages and video streaming ads, retailers are luring inflation-weary U.S. shoppers on Cyber Monday to open their wallets and promote deeply discounted cosmetics, electronics, toys, clothing and other products.
The push appears to have worked, with U.S. shoppers spending $8.3 billion online as of 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT), according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks data through Adobe’s Experience Cloud service for e-commerce platforms .
According to the company, a record number of price-strapped holiday shoppers are also expected to use the Cyber Monday “buy now, pay later” service to ease the strain on their wallets.
“Whether the consumer continues at this pace or not, we will continue to see them spend money. I think this will be a much better Christmas than advertised,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO of Laffer Tengler Investments Scottsdale, Arizona.
According to data firm Criteo, which tracks sales from more than 700 brands and retailers in the U.S., shoppers have been searching for deals since midday on Monday, with transactions in the first 12 hours of the day surpassing those in the same period in the exceed the year 2022.
[1/3]Workers select and pack items during Cyber Monday at the Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville Township in New Jersey, U.S., November 28, 2022. Portal/Eduardo Munoz Acquire License Rights
“Consumers are pretty resilient and have found ways to purchase gifts and experiences for their children and pets,” said Matthew Katz, managing partner at consulting firm SSA & Company.
Still, Walmart (WMT.N), Target (TGT.N) and Home Depot are owned
Charles Sizemore, chief investment officer at Sizemore Capital Management, said he expects retailers will have to offer more discounts in the coming weeks.
This leaves him worried about profit margins, even though input and labor costs have not fallen and buyers remain picky. “I really think margins are going to come down during the holiday season,” said Sizemore, whose company holds shares in Walmart and Target worth about $2 million each.
Amazon (AMZN.O) began marketing Cyber Monday deals as early as Saturday, including discounts of up to 46% on some Instant Pot kitchen appliances, 37% on certain Vitamix blenders and 35% on Amazon appliances, including a 55 inch Amazon Fire TV.
Eager to gain market share, Walmart slashed prices on Sunday evening, joining the trend of giving retailers early discounts on key shopping days. On Monday, Walmart increased discounts on some clothing items to 60%, up from the 50% it offered on Black Friday.
The Portal GraphicsArea chart, using data from Insider Intelligence, shows U.S. retail e-commerce sales from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday each year from 2017 to 2022 and a forecast for 2023.
Reporting by Siddharth Cavale and Arriana McLymore in New York and Deborah Sophia, Aishwarya Venogupal and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru. Editing by David Gregorio, Nick Zieminski, Matthew Lewis and Lincoln Feast
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