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eCommerce 2019 Holiday Sales Wrap Up, Mobile Leads The Way Again

eCommerce trends in 2019 saw brands enjoying a record holiday sales season again this year, with many retailers dependent on the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas for as much as 40% of their annual sales.

The results are encouraging (and perhaps a bit surprising, given that there were fewer selling days this year due to Thanksgiving falling so late). 

What had the biggest impact on eCommerce in 2019?

  • Increase of 18.8 percent in eCommerce sales this year vs. 2018 sales.
  • eCommerce grew faster than the overall retail sector (which saw growth of just 3.45 percent over 2018).
  • Challenges with the compressed sales period, as last minute shoppers resulted in retailers scrambling to meet shipping deadlines – this was compounded by FedEx’s recent troubles.
  • As always, Amazon threw competitors a curveball by expanding their free return policy and creating risk-free shopping on some items for consumers. 
  • Black Friday sales reached a new record at $7.4B, up $1.2B over 2018.
  • Mobile device sales also reached a record, up 21 percent year over year with $2.9B.
  • Sales on Cyber Monday had another record-breaking year with an increase of 19.7 percent to $9.4B – and what was really interesting is that BOPIS (Buy Online Pick up In Store) sales increased 43 percent over the previous year
  • As expected, Mobile continued to grow, hitting a whopping $44.4B just during the period between Thanksgiving to December 19th.
  • Holiday sales accounted for a total of 34.5 percent of all eCommerce sales and 57 percent of all traffic to websites.

Three Quick Takeaways:

  1. Holiday sales picked up momentum, exceeding expectations even despite retailers and eTailers having six fewer selling days this year.
  2. Mobile device sales continue to gain momentum. The revenue and traffic data noted above should encourage all eCommerce merchants to invest in optimizing Mobile shopping experiences to better-attract consumers. Failing to make this a priority in 2020 means risking being left behind your competitors.
  3. If you can leverage your brick & mortar locations for BOPIS, do it! Data shows this will continue to be embraced by consumers, providing some hybrid eTailers with an advantage.

We welcome your thoughts – feel free to contact us with comments and questions about improving your business.

Images courtesy of Pixabay | mohamed_hassan & OpenClipart-Vectors