Adobe: Holiday online sales ‘historic’

Holiday online sales surpassed predictions, generating $1 billion daily for the majority of a two-month period.



That’s according a study by Adobe Digital Insights, which aggregated data from 24.6 billion visits to the top 100 retail websites. The report said the 2016 holiday season (Nov. 1 – Dec. 31) brought in $91.7 billion in online sales, an 11% increase year-over-year, and 0.13% ($115 million) more than Adobe’s original prediction of $91.6 billion. Meanwhile, 57 out of 61 days this holiday season generated over $1 billion.



Mobile specifically brought in $28.43 billion in revenue, a 23% increase YoY ($19.26 billion from smartphones; $9.17 billion from tablets), driving 50% of visits (41% smartphones; 9% tablets), and 31% of purchases (21% smartphones; 10% tablets).



During this period, average shipping costs were $2.50 in 2016, compared to $2.60 in 2015, and reached a peak of $4.10 on Dec. 20. The lowest shipping costs this holiday season were on Thanksgiving ($1.60) and Cyber Monday (also $1.60). Sales increased toward the end of December, particularly around shipping cutoff dates, as consumers purchased later in the season and utilized options, such as click and collect in-store, the report said.



There was also strong social buzz this season. eBay was the most mentioned retailer on social with eBay sellers promoting their items for purchase and buyers highlighting products they bought that they couldn’t find in stores. Next in line was Amazon, Walmart, Target and H&M (from Dec. 1- Dec. 31). Pokémon Sun/Moon beat out Barbie as the top mentioned product followed by Oculus, Lego, PSVR and “Frozen” Toys.



“This holiday shopping season brought in a record $91.7 billion in online sales, which is just $115 million more than we originally predicted. But it’s not just the total online sales figure that made this a historic holiday shopping season,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director, Adobe Digital Insight.



“This year, Black Friday set a new record by surpassing the $3 billion mark for the first time at $3.34 billion, with high growth in the evening hours,” she added. “We also saw big gains in mobile spend, with Black Friday becoming the first day in retail history to drive over $ billion in mobile revenue. Electronics purchases, especially tablets, will spur even more online spend in 2017.”