Cyber Monday sales likely to break record despite inflation

Bloomberg

US shoppers have spent $6.3 billion so far on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Inc, a robust showing that suggests steep discounts attracted inflation-stung shoppers.
Cyber Monday spending will reach as much as $11.6 billion, making it the biggest online spending day ever, according to Adobe.
“There is a ton of momentum coming into Cyber Monday, after a surprising Sunday where consumers latched onto early deals and spent nearly $5 billion online, shattering previous records,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “With discounts set to reach new heights, Adobe expects Cyber Monday will be a major bright spot this season.”
The promotional period from Thanksgiving through Monday — now known as the Cyber Five — was nothing like 2021, when supply-chain snarls prompted people to shop earlier and retailers to skimp on discounts. This year stores were saddled with a glut of unsold merchandise, forcing them to offer sharply reduced prices to lure bargain-hunters looking to offset higher food and fuel costs.
Hot sellers included Legos, drones and digital cameras. Discounts were steeper compared with a year earlier. For instance, electronics had average discounts of about 20% and toys 22%, according to Adobe, which tracks 1 trillion visits to retail websites and monitors sales of more than 100 million products.
Conflicting economic indicators have made this year’s holiday season difficult to predict. Unemployment remains low, but interest rates are rising and lofty prices have made inflation top of mind. Adobe doesn’t adjust its forecast for inflation, but said the slow rate of growth isn’t entirely inflation-driven because prices for many consumer goods,
particularly electronics, have dropped from a year ago.
Big sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been gradually losing their cachet as shoppers spread their spending over longer periods. Black Friday online spending rose 2.3% to $9.12 billion and was better than anticipated, Adobe said. The total for November and December combined is set to reach $209.7 billion, up 2.5% from last year, the firm said.
Shoppers less concerned about Covid-19 returned to stores for more of their shopping, which blunted online sales growth, according to Adobe. Overall Black Friday spending — both online and in store — was up 12% from a year earlier, according to data from Mastercard.
Amazon.com Inc promoted itself as a destination for holiday deals, which benefited the independent merchants who sell more than half of the products on the site. Branded Group, which carries more than 40 houseware, personal care and leisure brands on Amazon, said sales are on track to increase 75% during the five-day promotional period. The company had more inventory than it did last year so could offer more deals.