A look at how U.S. consumers shopped – and drank – on Election Day
New data from Adobe and Drizly reveals e-commerce trends on and around Election Day, including orders for on-demand alcohol delivery.
Adobe Analytics, which analyzed over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and 100 million SKUs from 80 of the 100 largest U.S. retailers during election week (the week of Nov. 1), found that U.S. consumers spent $1.9 billion online on Nov. 4, the day after election day. This figure was down 12% compared to the previous three days. Online sales on election day amounted to $2 billion.
According to Adobe, online spending levels have been significantly higher than they were around the presidential election in 2016 due to the pandemic and more spending shifting online every year. From Nov. 1 - 4, online sales increased by 29% year-over-year to $8.4 billion, slightly less than what Adobe is predicting for this year’s Nov. 1 – Dec. 31 holiday season overall with 33% year-over-year growth.
Adobe continues to expect that election week (Nov. 1-7) will drive online retail spend in line with its projection of $16 billion. Even as votes continue to be counted, Adobe anticipates consumers will continue to spend significantly online. According to a complementary Adobe survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers, 26% of respondents said that the outcome of the election will impact their holiday spending. Sixty-three percent of surveyed retailers believe consumers will be more confident in spending after the presidential election.
“The impact of the post-election slowdown is not likely to affect the overall sales for the season,” Taylor Schreiner, director, Adobe Digital Insights. “Consumers are simply shifting some of the buying until after final vote tallies are determined. In 2016 online spending returned to normal levels two days after the election.”
In addition, alcohol e-commerce and delivery platform Drizly recorded overall spikes in sales the week of the election, day before and throughout Election Day and night. On Election Day 2020 (Tuesday, Nov. 3), sales on Drizly were 67.66% higher than the average of the previous four Tuesdays and above Drizly's baseline year-over-year growth by 219%. On Election Day during the 2016 presidential election (Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016), sales on Drizly rose 68.95% higher than the average of the previous four Tuesdays.
The top category share on Election Day was wine: (42.38%), followed by liquor (40.84%) and beer (14.67%). Red state sales where Drizly operates on Election Day were 33% higher than the average of the previous four Tuesdays. This includes Idaho, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Blue states sales on Election Day where Drizly operates were 75.32% higher than the average of the previous four Tuesdays. This includes California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
Battleground/ swing sales on Election Day where Drizly operates were 54.84% higher than the average of the last four Tuesdays. This includes Texas, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
Breaking down Election Day sales data by generation, Drizly found:
- 21 to 27: 13.1%
- 28 to 34: 28.7%
- 35 to 41: 26.2%
- 42 to 48: 14.9%
- 49 to 55: 8.4%
- 56 to 62: 4.7%
- 63 to 69: 2.5%
- 70 or Above: 1.5%