Consumers Stepping It Up Over the Holiday Shopping Weekend in 2011
The 2011 shopping season started with a bang over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with sales increasing over last year. And Black Friday was just the beginning; Cyber Monday continued Black Friday’s trend of increasing consumer spending. According to International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), online deals were too good for consumers to pass up with internet sales increasing 15 percent as of 6pm New York time. Even mobile payment volume increased by over 500 percent as of 2pm, said PayPal, a division of EBay Inc.
Amazon, Macy’s and Best Buy led the way for retailers over the holiday weekend with all three experiencing increases in their shares on Monday after promoting big discounts. Stores that waited until early on Friday morning to start their promotions, such as J.C. Penney Co Inc and Sears Holdings Corp, did not see the same types of gains, as reported by Reuters; based on this, 2012 may see more stores continuing the trend of early sales launches.
On Cyber Monday, ChannelAdvisor, a software company helping retailers help sell more online, reported that its clients experienced same-store sales rise 40.2 percent during the first half of the day compared to the same time period in 2010.
“Consumers are definitely opening their wallets again,” said Andrew Lipsman, a vice president of industry analysis at ComScore. “Consumers have been saving and got their houses in order. They are feeling a bit better about spending than the past several years.”
For some, Cyber Monday is a more convenient option than Black Friday. If consumers are traveling for the holidays, the free shipping offers on top of the deals may be too good to pass up. Additionally, as consumers are returning to work after the holiday weekend, they are purchasing during their work day. Finally, for some, the thought of the crowds and organizing a family outing is not as enticing as shopping in the comfort of their homes or in-store on Monday.
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