US Online Spending Picks Up Post-Election

RAPAPORT… E-commerce sales in the US rebounded this week following an initial dip in spending after the presidential election, according to Adobe Analytics.

On November 8, consumers spent $2.5 billion online, an increase of 26% year on year, Adobe noted Wednesday. The following day, sales climbed 24% year on year to $2.4 billion, and soared 27% on November 10 to reach $2.5 billion.

Those figures represent a rise from the first days after the election, when online sales fell 12% year on year on November 4 to $1.9 billion, and 2% on November 5 to $1.9 billion.

Overall, consumers shelled out $21.7 billion over the first 10 days of the holiday shopping season, a 21% increase over the same period a year ago.

The initial decline is unlikely to affect Adobe’s predicted overall rise of 33% to $189 billion from November 1 through December 31, the company noted.

“Despite the slowdown in consumer spending as election results unfolded, there are enough big shopping days ahead to make up lost ground,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights. “In spite of earlier discounting, the days including Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have great staying power and are expected to set new records, with growth in the 35% to 40% range.”

Total spending could rise even further if consumers receive a new federal stimulus package, or if a large portion of physical stores need to shut down across the country due to Covid-19, Schreiner added. In that scenario, Adobe expects online sales to grow 47% year on year to $200 billion, it said.

Adobe measures data from over one trillion visits to 80 of the top 100 online US retailers.

Image: A woman shopping online. (Shutterstock)