Cyber Monday, Black Friday spending: State of the consumer
Cyber Monday online spending could surpass $12 billion, the biggest US e-commerce shopping day ever, according to Adobe (ADBE). Meanwhile, holiday shoppers spent a total of $10.3 billion over Cyber Weekend, according to Adobe Analytics. Yahoo Finance spoke to experts to break down the state of the consumer with regard to the retail industry, entertainment, and everything investors need to know.
Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma discussed some of the record numbers this holiday season and what consumers need to watch with regard to sales. DiPalma said, "Really this period of 32 days does provide a longer timeline for shoppers to get their shopping done, and once again, they're waiting for the right price."
Adobe VP of Growth & Insights Patrick Brown broke down the widespread discounts this holiday season and the increased usage of buy now, pay later flexibility services. Brown explained, "People are seeing bigger discounts, they're leveraging credit in different ways to defer payments to be able to take advantage of some of those good deals that they are seeing."
SAP Emarsys Global Product Marketing Head Kelsey Jones notes that "retailers have been starting their campaigns earlier than ever this year," which is "really creating a bigger opportunity for retailers." Jones said, "It gives them an opportunity to not only find new customers now with the right discounts and the right offers, but then extend those to loyal customers as they go throughout the holiday season and into the new year."
Box Office Guru Founder and Editor Gitesh Pandya broke down another lackluster holiday box office performance. Disney's (DIS) Wish was beat out by Ridley Scott's historic biopic Napoleon, released jointly through Columbia Pictures (SONY) and AppleTV+ (AAPL), as well as Lionsgate's (LGF-A) The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Pandya explained, "The good news is this is the first time that the top ten over Thanksgiving weekend broke $100 million since 2019."
Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal expressed some optimism with the holiday box office numbers. Canal said, "Consistently we used to see this weekend pull in $250 million or more, and we haven't seen that since 2019 ... The (Hunger Games) prequel doing very well, securing $42 million, followed by Napoleon, $32.5 million, that was a surprise from Apple and Sony. Perhaps this is a good encouraging sign moving forward."
Video highlights:
00:00:03 - Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma
00:00:27 - Adobe VP of Growth & Insights Patrick Brown
00:01:06 - SAP Emarsys Global Product Marketing Head Kelsey Jones
00:01:37 - Box Office Guru Founder and Editor Gitesh Pandya
00:01:52 - Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal
Video Transcript
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BROOKE DIPALMA: What we're seeing is these big box and these apparel retailers really come out and say that we have the biggest deal yet, but actually some of them are in line with last year, more than last year, and some discounts even less. And so really this period of what is 32 days does provide a longer timeline for shoppers to get their shopping done. And once again, they are waiting for the right price and the right quality item.
PATRICK BROWN: 5% increase on Thanksgiving, acceleration of about 8% through Black Friday and then even another 8% over the weekend. So really strong growth. The biggest driver for that that we see is the discounting. And so we see discounts of around 20%, 25% on products like electronics and toys through the weekend, and we expect that to peak with discounts around 30% today on Cyber Monday.
One of the big drivers is an increase in buy now, pay later, and so people are seeing bigger discounts. They are leveraging credit and different ways to defer payments to be able to take advantage of some of that-- some of those good deals that they are seeing, and we're expecting that to peak today.
KELSEY JONES: What's really interesting is, you know, when we look at our digital marketing platform, we can see that retailers have already been driving and starting their campaigns earlier than ever this year, right? This is happening, you know, across the whole month rather and into Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. But it's really creating a bigger opportunity for retailers.
I think it gives them an opportunity to not only find new customers now with the right discounts and the right offers, but then extend those into loyal customers as they go throughout the holiday season and into the New Year.
GITESH PANDIYA: I think we will eventually get back to those pre-pandemic levels. The good news is that this is the first time that the top 10 over Thanksgiving weekend broke $100 million since 2019. So over the last [? three ?] years, we haven't seen that. So it is sort of getting back to that level.
ALEXANDRA CANAL: Consistently, we used to see this weekend pull in $250 million or more, [? and we ?] just haven't seen that since 2019. Now, there's been a lot of challenges obviously with COVID production delays and then this year, we had the double Hollywood strike that caused the delay of certain films like the "Dune" sequel, for example. That would have added a lot to the Thanksgiving box office.
The prequel doing very well securing $42 million, followed by "Napoleon" $32.5 million, that was a surprise from Apple and Sony. Apple really trying to shore up their film division there as well. So perhaps this is a good encouraging sign moving forward.
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