Shutterstock photo
Amazon: Thanksgiving Biggest Holiday Shopping Weekend Ever
November 30, 2022
Amazon Nov. 30 announced that the Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend was its biggest ever, with consumers globally purchasing hundreds of millions of products between Nov. 24-28. Among Amazon’s top-selling Thanksgiving weekend items included Echo Dot smart speakers, Fire TV Stick, Apple AirPods, Echo Show and Nintendo Switch.
“This was a record-breaking holiday shopping weekend for Amazon,” Doug Herrington, CEO of WW Amazon Stores, said in a statement.
Adobe Analytics reported that Black Friday (Nov. 25) alone set a new overall ecommerce sales record at $9.12 billion.
Separately, a record 196.7 million Americans shopped in stores and online during the five-day holiday, according to the annual survey released by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The total number of shoppers grew by nearly 17 million from 2021 and is the highest figure since NRF first started tracking this data in 2017.
“As inflationary pressures persist, consumers have responded by stretching their dollars in any way possible,” Matthew Shay, CEO of NRF, said in a statement. “Retailers have responded accordingly, matching sales and promotions across online and in-store channels to accommodate their customers at each interaction.”
According to the survey, more than 76% of consumers say they shopped over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up from 70% in 2021. The numbers shattered NRF’s initial expectations by more than 30 million.
Retailers saw a sizable uptick of in-store shoppers. More than 122.7 million people visited bricks-and-mortar stores over the weekend, up 17% from 2021. The number of online shoppers also grew, albeit at a slower pace. This year saw 130.2 million online shoppers, a 2% increase over 2021.
Black Friday continues to reign as the most favored day for in-store shopping. Approximately 72.9 million consumers opted for a more traditional in-person shopping experience, up from 66.5 million in 2021. The Saturday after Thanksgiving followed suit, with 63.4 million in-store shoppers, up from 51 million last year. A majority (77%) of Saturday shoppers indicated they shopped specifically for the so-called “small business Saturday” marketing event.
Black Friday was also the most popular day for online shopping, continuing a trend that started in 2019. Roughly 87.2 million consumers shopped online during Black Friday this year, in line with 2021. Similarly to last year, 77 million people shopped online on Cyber Monday. A record 59% of online Cyber Monday shoppers used their mobile device, up from 52% in 2021.
The top destinations for Thanksgiving weekend shoppers were online (42%), department stores (42%), grocery stores and supermarkets (40%), clothing and accessories stores (36%) and discount stores (32%).
Consumers spent an average of $325.44 on holiday-related purchases over the course of the weekend, up from $301.27 in 2021. Of that amount, most ($229.21) was directed specifically toward gifts.