E-Commerce

According to the most recent Mastercard SpendingPulse report, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, U.S. retail sales on Black Friday (Nov. 24) were up more than 2.5 percent year-over-year (YoY) excluding automotive, not adjusted for inflation. Key trends included from the Black Friday shopping data include the following: E-commerce sales were strong: E-commerce…

Black Friday and Cyber Monday stand out as pivotal events in the e-commerce calendar. The onset of the holiday shopping spree seems to be ushering in earlier with each passing year, with this season anticipating a surge in consumer spending, building on the momentum witnessed in recent months. While these monumental shopping days present retailers…

Consumers spent $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23), up 5.5 percent year-over-year, highlighting the continued shift to more spending online. In the holiday season so far, consumers have spent $76.7 billion online, up 6.8 percent YoY in the first 23 days of November. Black Friday is expected to bring in $9.6 billion, up 5.7 percent YoY. This according to Adobe Analytics data.…

Consumer holiday spending during the Thanksgiving week is expected to reach new highs as consumers look to make the most of festive deals, according to Deloitte's recently released 2023 Black Friday Cyber Monday Survey. Key findings from the annual survey include: Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping is back. Spending during the Thanksgiving week period is expected to be…

In episode 428 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Mike Clem, CEO of Sweetwater, the world's leading music technology and instrument retailer. Listen in as Clem discusses his 20-year career at Sweetwater (1:00), why the company has a strong track record of long-time employee retention (1:45), and how he is working to maintain…

October’s early holiday online shopping bump failed to materialize in a meaningful way, leaving retailers wondering whether the rest of their busiest season would live up to the already meager projections for fourth-quarter sales growth. U.S. e-commerce spending was up 4 percent in October compared to a year ago, according to data from commerce protection provider…

Amazon.com's Prime Big Deal Days are in the rearview mirror, and it’s all holiday ahead. With consumer spending expected to surpass pre-pandemic figures for the first time, retailers that deliver a great digital experience (DX) are poised to win big during the most important time of the year. In fact, 85 percent of consumers say…

The intense competition in the e-commerce market, rapid changes in consumer shopping habits, and expansion of new technologies require e-commerce businesses to reshape their customer engagement strategies to win buyers and motivate them to return. Catching and keeping customers’ attention requires expertise in the latest customer experience trends and e-commerce technologies. That’s why forward-looking digital…

In episode 427 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Claire O'Donnell, director of selling partner empowerment, communities and trust at Amazon.com. Listen in as O'Donnell discusses two key themes discusses at Amazon Accelerate, the annual conference dedicated entirely to Amazon’s selling partners (1:20), and the impact that the in-person community has on its sellers (2:43).…

As the excitement of Cyber Monday builds, are you properly leveraging data to maximize your online sales? According to Bain & Company, the forecast for U.S. retail sales is a modest growth of 3 percent — the slowest since 2018. However, there’s a silver lining: online spending is predicted to soar by a robust 5…