Is Your Business Ready for the Busiest Shopping Days of the Year?

The holidays are a great time to play catch up and celebrate with family and friends.  During this time we are reminded of what we are thankful for as well as anticipate what we want accomplish in the new year.  For retailers, the holiday season means something so much more.  Retailers recognize the holiday season as the opportunity to increase their business bottom line and end the year with a bang.

The holiday season accounts for between 20 percent and 40 percent of typical retailers’ total annual sales.  The busiest shopping days, Thanksgiving Day (after the dinner has digested), Black Friday, Small Business Saturday (powered by American Express) and Cyber Monday have the ability to create a massive amount of sales for retailers both big and small,  with the right amount of planning and an aggressive advertising.

Here are the four day weekend sales results from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday Week November 28 – December 1, 2013:

• 141 million shoppers visited stores or websites from Thanksgiving Day November 28th through the Cyber Monday Eve, December 1st, according a survey by the NRF (National Retail Federation (NRF) survey). Based on consumer survey responses, the NRF estimated that $57.4 billion was spent over the four-day Black Friday weekend, which, if correct, is 2.9% less than 2012.
• 59 million consumers shopped online between Thanksgiving Day and the Sunday after Black Friday and spent an average of $177.67 per person, according to estimates based on the NRF consumer survey.
• Between Thanksgiving Day (November 29) through Black Sunday (December 1st), 76.4% of shoppers purchased something for themselves, according to consumer survey data collected by the NRF.
• ShopperTrak reported that total sales in physical stores for the four-day Black Friday weekend, starting with Thanksgiving day were $22.2 billion, which is an increase of 1%, compared to the same time period in 2012.

Last year, consumers spent around $5.7 Billion at independent merchants around the country on Small Business Saturday.

Cyber Monday Sales Results and Statistics for November 28 & 29, 2013:

• Cyber Monday, December 2, 2013 was the single biggest day for e-commerce sales for U.S. based Internet retailers, according to ComScore. Cyber Monday 2013 sales were $1.735 billion, which represents an 18.4% increase compared to 2012.

• Visa card holders spent $2.6 billion on Cyber Monday 2013, which was 28% more than they spent on Cyber Monday 2012.

• Cyber Monday 2013 sales rose 20.6%, compared to Cyber Monday 2012, according to IBM Benchmark reports.

• Mobile devices were used to make 17% of Cyber Monday 2013 purchases, which is an increase of 55.4% compared to sales that originated from mobile devices on Cyber Monday 2012, the IBM Benchmark reported.

According to Nielson Multi-Cultural consumers are expected to drive this year’s increase in holiday spending with African-Americans making up the largest percentage of the increase, according to the 2014 Holiday Sales Forecast.   The leading provider in global  insights and marketing trends created a 2013 Holiday Sales Infographic for retailers and marketers as a great guideline and prediction of this years holiday sales projection.  Nielsen’s 2014 Multi-Cultural Holiday Forecast predicts that 2014 will be even greater.  Are you ready?