Ahead of the eagerly anticipated big e-commerce dates of Black Friday (tomorrow) and Cyber Monday (December 2), full services data-driven solutions provider, Ve Interactive, has revealed some key data from the hot dates this time last year.
According to Ve’s data-driven product, VeInsights, in the US, Black Friday online sales were good, but Cyber Monday was even more ‘spectacular’.
On Cyber Monday 2012 in the US, interest in online shopping saw a significant increase, although less than of actual sales; basket abandonment on Cyber Monday in the US was markedly lower than usual.
Total baskets in clothing and footwear saw an uplift of 109%. Among specialty retailers it was 24%, in consumer electronics; 29%, in food and drink; 251%, and in beauty products the uplift was 27%.
Online sales, (measured by the number of online transactions Ve’s solutions captured) on Black Friday 2012, were 36.5% higher than the daily average for late November.
Interest in online shopping, (measured by the number of shopping baskets), saw a bigger uplift – by 38.4% above the daily average.
The number of online sales of clothing and footwear was 142% higher than the daily average. Sales of specialty retailers were 101% higher, consumer electronics; 79% higher, beauty products; 97% higher – while food and drink were 271% higher than the daily average.
Alex Kokcharov from VeInsights said: “While interest in online shopping was 52.9% higher than average, the number of actual online sales doubled, (it was 100.2% higher than the daily average), proving that Cyber Monday measured up to its name,” Kokcharov said.
British Cyber Monday
“The picture in the UK however, was more complicated,” Kokcharov explained.
“First, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday generated smaller uplifts in both online sales and e-consumers’ interest in shopping.
“For instance, the number of online sales on Black Friday in the UK was only 15.8% higher than the daily average, and the number of total baskets was a mere 7.8% higher.”
Kokcharov said British Cyber Monday was somewhat more pronounced, with a rise in sales by 17.9% over the average level and a 15.6% increase in total baskets.
Strongest sector movers for Black Friday in the UK were travel and tourism, with sales of 45% above daily average, food and drink – 26% above, and beauty products – 11% above the daily average.
Pay day Wednesday
Cyber Monday was boosted by sales in travel and tourism – 30% above average, publishing and entertainment – 19.2%, and beauty products – 22% above daily average.
“An interesting story for the UK though was the presence of a third peak on Wednesday November 28,” Kokcharov said.
“That day the number of online sales grew by 10.6% above average, while the number of total baskets grew by 8.6% above average, (the latter figure was higher, than for Black Friday).”
Sales experienced a boost across the board, from clothing to beauty products, and from consumer electronics to food and drink.
Kokcharov said one possible explanation for this uplift is the fact that the 28th of each month is a common payday for many employers across Britain, particularly in the public sector – which means that UK e-commerce saw a triple effect of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and then ‘Pay Day’ Wednesday.