Salesforce: Cyber Week digital sales reach $76 billion in U.S.
Cyber Week (the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday) proved to be an e-commerce bonanza.
After months of slow digital sales growth, growth for the first four weeks of the holiday season (Nov. 5 – Dec. 2) rose 8% in the U.S. and globally. according to data from Salesforce. Digital sales across Cyber Week (Nov. 28 – Dec. 2) reached $76 billion in the U.S., up 7% year-over-year, and $314.9 billion globally, up 6% year-over-year.
These figures exceeded initial Salesforce estimates for digital sales to reach $311 billion worldwide, accounting for 23% of all holiday purchases in 2024 and $75 billion in the U.S., during Cyber Week. They also represent a 5.6% increase from $298 billion in global sales and roughly 1% jump from $70.8 billion in U.S. sales reported by Salesforce during Cyber Week 2023.
Looking at key dates during Cyber Week, Salesforce analysis indicates that on Black Friday (Nov. 29), U.S. online sales reached $17.5 billion (up 7% year-over-year) in the U.S. and rose 5% year-over-year to $74 billion globally.
Salesforce data shows Black Friday as the biggest digital shopping day of Cyber Week, as opposed to Adobe findings that Black Friday only generated $10.8 billion in U.S. digital sales, second to Cyber Monday.
[READ MORE: Black Friday online sales break records]
During Cyber Monday (Dec. 2), Salesforce analysis shows that online sales reached $12.8 billion in the U.S. (up 3% year-over-year) and $49.7 billion globally (up 2% year-over-year).
Mobile, social play key roles
More than 80% of both U.S. and global e-commerce traffic originated from a mobile device during Cyber Week. As Salesforce previously predicted, mobile orders drove 70% of U.S. and global sales, up from 67% in 2023.
In total, mobile accounted for $220 billion in sales globally and $53.3 billion in the United States. Mobile wallet usage also increased 16% globally during the week.
In addition, retailers implementing social commerce strategies saw 19% of their Cyber Week sales generated through platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram.
Other findings
- $60 billion of global online sales were influenced by AI and agents for product recommendations, targeted offers, and conversational customer service support.
- Retailers using generative AI and agents to provide service experiences saw a 2% higher conversion rate compared to retailers who didn't use the technology.
- Retailers used generative AI and agents 18% more during Cyber Week than the previous week, while shoppers used AI- and agent-powered chat for customer service 38% more than they did in the previous week.
- The average U.S. discount rate was 28% and he global average discount rate was 26%, both down 1% year-over-year.
"Shoppers were waiting all of 2024 for the right moment to buy the goods they wanted, and they clearly made the most of this Cyber Week," said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights, Salesforce. "Strong year-over-year order growth indicates that even modest discounts were enough to convince consumers to open their wallets. And retailers who invested in AI and agents were able to reap even greater revenues during this critical shopping period through personalized promotions, recommendations and support."
