US E-Commerce Holiday Sales on Par with Last Year

Online US retail sales for the first three weeks of the holiday season were almost flat compared with 2021, according to a report from Adobe Analytics.

Since November 1, consumers have spent $64.59 billion online, up 0.1% from the previous year, Adobe said Wednesday. The fact that there was a slight uptick indicated shoppers were still spending despite inflation, Adobe pointed out.

Between November 1 and November 21, there were nine days in which shoppers shelled out more than $2 billion online per day and 12 that recorded more than $3 billion. Those figures are fairly consistent with the same period a year ago.

November’s figures may have been higher if customers hadn’t started shopping earlier than usual this year, with retailers offering promotions across several categories in October. Electronics, computers, appliances and televisions saw strong discounts during the month, with more moderate price drops in apparel, sporting goods and furniture, Adobe noted.

“We are beginning to see the impact of earlier holiday deals, as retailers contend with oversupply and a softening spending environment,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights. “E-commerce has remained resilient thus far…, [signaling] a strong start to the season as we look towards Cyber Monday, which is expected to set new records for online shopping.”

Adobe expects sales for the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, known as Cyber Week, to generate $34.8 billion online, a gain of 2.8% year on year, and account for 16% of the two-month holiday total. Cyber Monday will be the season’s biggest remote shopping day, growing 5% year on year to $11.2 billion, the analytics company forecast. Meanwhile, other previously notable shopping days are not predicted to be as strong, as consumers spread their shopping throughout the entire season. Sales on Black Friday are set to rise 1% year on year to $9 billion, while online buying on Thanksgiving Day will slip 1% to $5.1 billion, Adobe added.

Image: Online shopping for the holidays. (Shutterstock)