Early holiday spending increases, but consumers aren’t finding massive deals

With a shortened vacation period, retailers launched a slew of promotions over the Thanksgiving weekend, enticing consumers to spend heavily.

Sales are expected to reach $41 billion during the five day purchase period between Thanksgiving and Cyber ​​Monday, according to e-commerce data tracked by Adobe.

Consumers spent $6.1 billion, an 8.8% year-over-year increase, on Thanksgiving this year, according to Adobe. An additional $10.8 billion, an increase of 10.2% year-over-year, was spent on Black Friday. And $10.9 billion was spent between November 30 and December 1, representing a 5.8% year-over-year increase.

For Cyber ​​Monday, Adobe forecast consumer spending of $13.2 billion, an increase of 6% year-over-year. Cyber ​​Monday sales are expected to peak between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., when $15.7 million will be spent every minute.

Adobe’s figures are not adjusted for inflation and the company has been tracking consecutive e-commerce price declines for 26 months. For example, e-commerce prices in October were down 2.9% year-over-year, according to Adobe.

Bet on smaller discounts

Discounts remain a big priority for retailers this year, to temper consumer reaction to inflation and rising pricesaccording to Adobe.

“Discounts have exceeded expectations starting with Thanksgiving, and Cyber ​​Monday has essentially become the ‘last call’ for shoppers looking to get the best deals this season,” said Vivek Pandya, principal analyst for Adobe Digital Insights , in a press release.

Adobe reported that discounts are particularly high on computers, appliances, clothing, toys, electronics and televisions. Retailers are expected to offer the biggest discounts on Cyber ​​Monday on electronics and clothing. According to Adobe, electronics will peak at 30% off list prices and clothing at 23% off list prices during Cyber ​​Monday.

But these reductions are not as significant as in previous years.

Separate data from Salesforce revealed that retailer discounts were lower between November 30 and December 1 compared to last year. Globally, discounts average 26%, down 3% year-over-year. In the United States, the average discount was 28%, down 2% year-over-year. And in Europe, discounts averaged 23%, down 2% from 2023.

These smaller discounts increased the average selling price globally by 3% year-over-year, according to Salesforce. Global sales between November 30 and December 1 also increased 8% year-over-year, according to Salesforce.