Black Friday (BF) sales continue to attract large numbers of shoppers despite inflation and Russia-Ukraine conflict raising the cost of living, new Black Friday (BF) research shows adobe (opens in a new tab) and sales force (opens in a new tab).
According to reports digital economy (opens in a new tab)sales at brick-and-mortar stores could rise, Walmart reported in the first quarter of 2022 that its e-commerce growth had slowed to as low as 1%, but economic pressures had little impact on Black Friday online sales, Adobe claims Americans $9.12 billion was spent online on Black Friday in 2022 alone, a 2.3% increase over 2021.
Meanwhile, Salesforce claim (opens in a new tab) Wages not rising with inflation are affecting the amount of products people buy. The current average order quantity is 3.5 pieces, down 2% year-on-year. Nonetheless, the average order value increased 0.6% year-over-year.
The international impact of Black Friday
The company also claims that price changes in the U.S. have directly impacted common gift categories, with electronics up 34 percent this year and beauty products down an average of 15 percent.
While Adobe’s data specifically covers spending habits during the U.S. holiday season, Salesforce was able to provide a global picture that suggests Black Friday may not have as much appeal internationally.
Global Black Friday sales in 2022 are up 3% year-on-year, but parts of Europe are underperforming, with UK and Ireland seeing a 13% drop in Black Friday online revenue and an 11% drop in orders.
Technology Radar Pro recent ReportUK parcel deliveries in 2022 will increase by 8% on Black Friday and 30% on Cyber Monday, according to delivery management company nShift.
Combined with Salesforce’s data, this appears to be the reverse of the US situation, with shoppers buying more and spending less.
Things weren’t as good in Europe either, with Salesforce reporting a 12% drop in online revenue from Germany and a 15% drop in order volume.
However, Nshift reported that, for example, Denmark saw a 126% increase in package deliveries, Finland saw a 58% increase, and several other countries saw similar increases. While income figures for these countries are not available, it is clear that not every European is willing to walk away from the bargain.
Salesforce found Australians felt the same way as New Zealanders, where revenues fell just 1 per cent while orders placed rose 3 per cent. Meanwhile, Japan saw the sharpest decline in growth, with online sales down 34% and orders down 17% compared to 2021.
Enthusiasm for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals outside the U.S. has been mixed, most likely not because the rest of the world has grown weary of imported consumerism, but rather because it has taken a more conservative approach to the unique financial challenges of the moment, perhaps because Because Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday.
For example, businesses may also decide to organize their technology stack rather than invest in new server infrastructure.
