Investment Institute
Technology

Black Friday and Cyber Monday: Tech helps consumers to keep spending


Cyber Week, the post-Thanksgiving period of mass retail discounts - which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday - remained resilient in 2023, as hordes of shoppers sought out bargains.1

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Tech supports sales growth

AI helped drive sales growth - $51bn of Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending was influenced by AI via targeted offers, product recommendations and generative AI chat services. A record 79% of Cyber Week e-commerce traffic came via mobile phones, up from 76% in 20222 .

80% of internet users worldwide made online purchases in 2022, up 8.3% from 20213 . E-commerce is expected to make up 41% of global retail sales by 2027, up from 18% in 20174 .
 

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US Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales
Source: Adobe Insights 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

  • US consumers spent $15.7m every minute in the peak hour on Cyber Monday, compared to $12.8m in 2022.5
  • $1 in every $5 of US consumer spending is expected to be spent online from 1 November to 31 December 2023.5
  • Meanwhile US in-store traffic also rose 4.6% on Black Friday in 2023 year on year.6

Singles Day: China's biggest shopping event

Meanwhile in China, Singles Day sales continued to rise despite a sluggish economic backdrop.

Singles Day originated in 1993 in China in response to Valentine's Day as a celebration of being single. It is known as the 'Double 11' shopping festival and takes place on 11 November.

Gross merchandising volume sales across major e-commerce platforms over the Singles Day sales period was estimated to have risen to $156bn in 2023, up 2.1% on the year before.7

More than 5.26bn packages were delivered by China’s state postal service across the 11-day shopping holiday.8

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Technology, including mobile phones and more recently artificial intelligence, is helping boost e-commerce growth, making it easier for retailers to reach and market to customers.

Jeremy Gleeson, CFA

Portfolio manager, AXA Investment Managers

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