Despite the fact that Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts are spread out more and more across the weeks leading up to and following Thanksgiving, both days are expected to see record spending levels once again this year. According to estimates from Adobe Analytics, Cyber Monday will remain the biggest day of the holiday shopping season, driving $12 billion in online spending, up 6.1 percent from last year. Black Friday online sales are set to grow by 5.7 percent to $9.6 billion, with Thanksgiving Day sales expected to increase 5.5 percent to $5.6 billion.
For the entire Cyber Week, defined here as the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, Adobe expects $37.2 billion in online spending, representing 16.8 percent of total holiday season online sales, which are forecast to reach $221.8 billion between November 1 and December 31 this year. “Despite an unpredictable economic environment, where consumers face several challenges including rising interest rates, we expect strong e-commerce growth this season on account of record discounts and flexible payment methods,” Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing at Adobe, said.
And while it feels like the overabundance of discounts throughout the year has watered down the importance of special shopping days, Adobe stresses the significance of such days as "important anchor points for the season". In the end it’s up to retailers to counter deal fatigue with discounts that offer genuine savings instead of just marking down inflated original prices.
