Ben Shepherd in his newsletter Signal with three things in marketing and advertising you need to know.
BLACK FRIDAY SALES SIGNALS POSITIVE ACCORDING TO ADOBE AND SALESFORCE
What’s new:
Adobe Analytics are predicting that US shoppers spent a record $9.8 billion dollars online this Black Friday period, a 7.5% increase year on year. This was driven by electronics and was partially funded by buy now pay later products, which according to the same data showed a 72% increase in usage from the previous week. Salesforce data is suggesting the result could have been even better online, up 9%. In Australia, I was informed by a pretty credible source that Afterpay had its first $100m transaction day on Black Friday.
Why it matters:
The forecast for Black Friday was around a 3% increase year on year, so these reported figures would provide optimism to both retailers and the wider economy that people will spend when the incentive is there. The real picture will form over the next 6 weeks when the total Christmas period can be evaluated – is Black Friday a pushing forward of demand driven by low prices, or is this increase likely to be incremental when the total period is wrapped up?
Marketer implication?
If the Adobe and Salesforce US data is true, as well as the local Afterpay intel, this would be some of the most positive commerce related news to hit in many months. With 2024 still looking short for the advertising market, hopefully these sales numbers (particularly the bounce of technology-based items) provide some fuel for optimism as we close out 2023.
Read the full version of Signal HERE
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