Deep discounts drive record holiday online shopping
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American shoppers took advantage of deep discounts online and rang up a record $211.7 billion in e-commerce spending in November and December, according to a new Adobe Analytics report out today.
Why it matters: The results — unadjusted for inflation — reflect resilient consumer demand for holiday goods in spite of generally high inflation and a greater number of options for spending as the economy has reopened.
- “At a time when consumers were dealing with elevated prices in areas such as food, gas, and rent, holiday discounts were strong enough to sustain discretionary spending through the entire season,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement.
- According to Adobe, online prices have been falling year-over-year since September.
Flashback: Retailers facing a glut of products, and worried about waning consumer demand, cut prices across the most-wanted holiday categories, including toys, clothing and electronics.
What to watch: There was a 2% decrease in Buy-Now-Pay-Later revenue over the holiday, despite a 4% increase in orders, suggesting shoppers are increasingly using the financing service for smaller purchases.
