After weeks of promotions and build up to
the largest US shopping weekend of the year, Black Friday is finally here. Last
year, Black Friday raked in 24.3% more revenue over 2010, and Cyber Monday
became the highest online sales day in history, generating $1.25 billion. Can
we expect this kind of growth to continue this year, especially as the holiday
shopping pandemonium creeps up north to Canada?
The NRF predicts an estimated 147 million people will shop this Black Friday Weekend (Friday through Sunday), which is
slightly less than last year’s 152 million. However, Cyber Monday is expected
to maintain its title of the biggest shopping day of the year as 41% of US
consumers will shop Black Friday, while 57% will hold off for Cyber Monday, all
of which will contribute to an anticipated 16.8% increase over 2011 in overall
holiday sales, at $54.47 billion. The Bank of Montreal’s Holiday Outlook
predicts a 15% increase in holiday revenue in Canada.
For some retailers and their avid
consumers, Black Friday actually began last night after Thanksgiving dinner.
Sears, Wal-Mart, Target and Toys R Us opened their doors as early as 8pm last
night, and the Mall of America awaits an estimated 200,000 shoppers today. NBC tweeted
this morning that “Wal-Mart has already sold 1.8 million towels, 1.3 million TV’s,
1.3 million dolls and 250k bikes”. Cadillac Fairview, who manages a string of malls in Canada, announced that nine of its malls would open at 7am or earlier today. Canadian tourist attraction, the Toronto Eaton Centre opened at 6 am today.
Mobile commerce is also expected to build
on the momentum of last year, where 9.8% of sales on Black Friday, and 6.6% of
sales on Cyber Monday were mobile based. Retailers like Macy’s has prepared
substantially for today, entirely rebuilding their eBay-based mobile app to
include geo-fencing. The app will detect the Macy’s location in which the
shopper is located, and send push notifications every 5 minutes of special
promotions and deals specific to that store. Staples also began mobile-only
deals as of 11pm last night that will run until 11 am this morning.
For more information on stats, trends and
what to expect this holiday season, check out OrderDynamics 2012 Retail Outlook
for Black Friday & Cyber Monday [INFOGRAPHIC] here.
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