Black Friday and Cyber Monday – The What, When, and Why - Also Shopping Statistics Analyze
The Black Friday statistics in this article shine a light on how the days following Thanksgiving have grown to become the most important period of the year for retailers.
We’ve almost come to think of Thanksgiving as the day before Black Friday, rather than the other way around.
Though Black Friday is nothing new - it’s been a thing since the 1970s, and possibly even earlier - the way we shop on Black Friday and subsequent days is evolving every year, from more people taking advantage of Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales, to a higher share of sales online and on mobile devices.
If you’re interested in what the data shows about how we shop during the biggest shopping event of the year, read on for the latest statistics.
Learn more: How to Use Black Friday & Cyber Monday to grow your eCommerce brand
Black Friday Shopping Statistics
The data tells us that Black Friday (and the surrounding days, including Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday, and the newly coined “Small Business Saturday”) is bigger than ever.
Check out the following statistics from the most recent Black Friday/Cyber Week to get an idea of just how massive this period is for retailers, as well as getting an idea of what consumers’ shopping habits look like at the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
More than 1 in 2 Americans shop online or in-person during Cyber Week
2023 was a record Thanksgiving shopping period, with 200.4 million Americans making a purchase either online or in-person.
That's around 60% of the entire population of the US.
This is an increase on the record number of shoppers during Thanksgiving weekend 2022, and more than 20 million more than the same period in 2021.
Cyber Week saw 134.2 million shoppers online vs 121.4 million in-person
Online eclipsed brick and mortar, with 134.2 million online shoppers vs 121.4 million shopping in brick and mortar stores.
Online shopping was slightly up compared to 2022, rising from 130.2 million shoppers one year ago, while the number of people shopping in-person decreased from 122.7 million in 2022.
90.6 million people shopped online on Black Friday 2023
Black Friday was the biggest shopping day of the five-day period, with 166.8 million shoppers (up from 160.1 a year ago). A little over half of all Black Friday shoppers bought something online, with 90.6M, versus 76.2M in-store.
73.1 million people shopped online on Cyber Monday
While physical shoppers tail off from Sunday onwards, online retail booms on Cyber Monday, the last day of the Thanksgiving weekend shopping period.
73.1 million people bought something online on Cyber Monday 2022, putting it a little behind Black Friday as the second biggest day for eCommerce.
The combined online spend for Cyber Week totaled $38 billion
All up, a record $38 billion was spent online across Cyber Week 2023, up 7.8% from $35.3 billion in 2022.
US consumers spent $9.8 billion on Black Friday and $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday
The two biggest days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, contributed $9.8 billion and $12.4 billion respectively in online retail sales, with Cyber Monday seeing more money spent, despite fewer overall shoppers.
The Black Friday sales figures represent 7.5% growth year-on-year, while Cyber Monday grew 9.6% YoY.
Thanksgiving saw $5.6 billion in online sales (up 5.5% from 2022), and consumers spent $10.3 billion online across Saturday and Sunday (7.7% more than the previous year).
Consumers spent $15.7 million per minute during Cyber Monday peak
At the peak hour of 10pm-11pm EST on Cyber Monday, consumers spent a massive $15.7 million per minute.
US holiday season sales expected to near $1 trillion
After totaling $957.3 billion in 2022, holiday season sales (from November 1 through December 31) are forecasted to reach a new record in 2023 of $966.6 billion, edging ever closer to the trillion dollar mark.
59% of sales on Thanksgiving came on smartphones
Mobile commerce continues to grow in 2023, with more than half of all online sales on Thanksgiving day made via smartphones.
The 59% share of mobile commerce on this day was up from 55% the previous year.
51.8% of Cyber Week sales came on mobile
Overall, smartphones contributed 51.8% of all online sales across Cyber Week, mobile outpacing desktop as consumers’ favorite way to shop.
Average order value for November 2023 was 2.7% higher than 2022
Consumers are spending more in each order than a year before. Between November 1 and November 27, average order value was 2.7% higher than the same period last year.
The increase is higher over Thanksgiving weekend, with a 3.2% increase in AOV for the period of 25-26 November.
82% of people shop during Cyber Week
More than four out of five people say they shop at some point during Cyber Week, whether it’s online, in-person, or both.
2.5x as many people shop online vs in-person
Of these people, the majority say they plan to shop online. 68% of people shop online during Cyber Week, while only 27% shop at a brick and mortar store.
52% of those who don’t plan to shop on BFCM say it’s because they don’t like crowds
For people who don’t plan to shop during Cyber Week, more than half say it’s to avoid crowds.
Some simply aren’t interested in buying anything, or don’t want to spend money, while 8% think that Black Friday is a scam.
Target and Walmart are the top in-person Black Friday shopping destinations
For people who shop in-person on Black Friday, more than two-thirds shop at Target, Walmart or both.
Kohl’s is the next most popular destination, with 41%, while Macy’s, Best Buy and Old Navy are a few other brands that get a spike in business on this date.
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88% of people shop on Amazon on Black Friday weekend
Of people who shop online during Cyber Week, nearly all make a stop at Amazon.com.
88% of people report shopping on Amazon at some point during the period. Target (55%) and Walmart (51%) are also popular with the online crowd, as are the websites of some other big brick and mortar brands.
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23% of people plan to spend over $1,000 this holiday season
Nearly a quarter of people say they plan to spend more than $1,000 this holiday season. 45% of people claimed they will spend $600 or more.
55% of people took advantage of pre-Thanksgiving sales
With Black Friday weekend becoming more and more competitive, many brands opt to start their promotions earlier to get in front of the pack.
It seems customers are responsive to this strategy, with 55% of people saying they made a purchase from an early sale or promotion.
Promotions are coming earlier and earlier too, with 35% of people buying something on sale in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and 24% more than a week before.
Major categories see up to 2-2.5% more sales during Cyber Monday
It’s no surprise that Cyber Monday sales are much higher than the average day.
Most categories see double their regular sales on Cyber Monday, or more. Apparel sales, for example, grow 189% compared to a regular day in October.
Other top-performing categories include appliances (up 166%), toys (up 140%) and furniture (up 129%).
Discounts hit record highs in 2023
Discounts are hitting record highs during Black Friday and the surrounding days.
The average Black Friday discount for electronics was 31% off in 2023, compared to 25% off the year before.
The average discount for furniture increased from 8% in 2022 to 21% in 2023. Apparel, sporting goods, televisions and appliances all saw higher discounts as well, while the average discount for toys decreased, from 34% in 2022 to 27% in 2023.
$940 million spent with Buy Now Pay Later on Cyber Monday
The usage of Buy Now Pay Later services hit new record highs in 2023. $940 million was spent on Cyber Monday through BNPL, up 42.5% on the previous year.
The total number of orders through BNPL services increased 11% from 2022, and between November 1 and November 27, a total of $8.3 billion has been spent, up 17% YoY.
Paid search drives 27% of online sales during Cyber Week
Paid search remains the top marketing channel for Cyber Week, driving 27% of online sales from Thanksgiving through to Cyber Monday.
However, this number is down slightly from 28% on 2022.
Direct is the #2 channel, with 21% share of sales. Organic search, email and affiliate are all fairly evenly distributed, while social media drives less than 5% of all Cyber Week sales.
Black Friday Trends: Three Predictions for the Future of Black Friday
The Black Friday figures above paint interesting reading on the current state of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the overall Thanksgiving sales period.
But how about the future of BFCM? What do these stats tell us about what Black Friday-Cyber Monday will look like next year, five years, ten years from now?
Here are three predictions for how Black Friday will evolve in the coming years.
- More sales on mobile: mobile commerce is growing at a fast rate, and eclipsed desktop eCommerce during Cyber Week 2023. With mobile shopping experiences getting better every year, expect this trend to continue.
- More early sales: we’ve seen that almost half of all shoppers already take advantage of pre-Thanksgiving sales. With the intense competition and ad costs during Cyber Week, look for more brands to run early promotions, potentially starting as soon as the start of November.
- More brands driving sales through owned channels: paid ads drive more than a quarter of all Cyber Week sales, but the cost of this keeps going up. Expect to see smart brands utilize “owned” channels, where they can drive sales more or less for free - such as email, SMS and push notifications via their mobile apps.
Sources
The data in this post was sourced from recent Black Friday-Cyber Monday/holiday spending reports from eMarketer Insider Intelligence, the National Retail Federation, Adobe Analytics and Drive Research.
In addition to being a profitable day in itself, Black Friday officially marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season – or as we like to call it: The bread and butter for retailers. But how is it different from Cyber Monday, and what can you do to beat your competitors? Stay tuned to get the answers.
Black Friday in a nutshell
Black Friday is the mainstream name of the Friday after the American Thanksgiving Day. The actual date of Black Friday shifts every year, but it always falls at the end of November and is generally considered to be the biggest shopping day of the year.
Black Friday started as an offline affair focused on brick-and-mortar shops. In other words, the main attraction was in-store discounts. On Black Friday, retailers make such irresistible offers that bargain-hungry shoppers of all ages stream into the physical stores to commence their Christmas shopping.
When we examine recent data on buying behavior, it becomes evident that product categories such as electronics and appliances are particularly popular on Black Friday.
Consumers rush into the shops to buy televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, power tools, and other big-ticket items which are less ideal to buy online. This is not surprising. Not only do people want in-person guidance on such items; they also want to avoid expensive shipping fees.
Some brands and retailers extend their Black Friday sales to last an entire week with new discounts each day. This phenomenon is known as Black Week.
Then what about Cyber Monday?
After the great success of Black Friday, new retail holidays emerged such as Singles Day and – you guessed it – Cyber Monday. This title refers to the Monday immediately after the American Thanksgiving – four days after to be exact. The date changes each year, but it always falls between November 25th and December 2nd.
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The phenomenon of Cyber Monday came about in November 2005 as a direct reaction to Black Friday. The term was first introduced in a press release by the American National Retail Federation but was eventually adopted in all Western countries.
For retailers, the purpose was to help smaller businesses compete with the big brands who gave great in-store discounts on Black Friday. For consumers, it was appealing to be able to stay at home without missing the best bargains of the season. It was a win-win.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday differ in their placement of activity as well as in the consumers’ buying behavior. In contrast to Black Friday, Cyber Monday primarily takes place online – hence the name “Cyber Monday”.
Data on buying behavior reveal that product categories such as clothing, accessories, books, toys, and makeup are particularly popular on Cyber Monday. It’s safe to say that these smaller items are more economical to ship and potentially return than, for instance, a television or washing machine.
But what’s with all the fuzz and frenzy?
For retailers of almost all industries, Black Friday and Cyber Monday provide unique opportunities to target new audiences with carefully designed campaigns and product offers. On these national shopping days, there is intense competition among retailers to win the favor of the consumers.
Obviously, the short-term goal is selling lots of products and gaining revenue here and now. The long-term goal is to create brand awareness and gain new, loyal customers which you can benefit from for years to come. Luckily, both goals can be achieved with the right approach – and we are here to tell you how.
Our top tactics to have a successful shopping season
By the way, we promise that our advice won’t simply be to “cut your costs and make better offers than your competitors”. Lowering your prices further may not even be an option for you if you want to keep a healthy bottom line. We completely get that. Luckily, there are other and more beneficial ways to win the race.
Would you like a sneak peek before downloading it? Your wish is our command. Here are the main tactics we cover in our Black Friday e-book:
- Grow your mailing list from September to November
- Host live events – you can thank us later
- Offer free shipping and multiple shipping solutions
- Apply behavioral psychology to your sales- and marketing efforts
- Implement a fair and easy-to-grasp return policy
- Be active on social media
- Take advantage of influencer marketing
- Recover lost sales with abandoned cart messages
Of course, every chapter in the e-book includes concrete tips and tricks on when and how to implement the tactics above. Moreover, each chapter is packed with examples from the real world.
Use our Live Shopping calculator to see how much you could earn.
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