Black Friday and (the newer) Cyber Monday experience have become as synonymous with the Thanksgiving holiday as turkey, stuffing, and a Detroit Lions loss. However, like most things in 2020 (except the Lions losing), Black Friday and Cyber Monday felt different. With the exception of some dedicated gamers, consumers avoided the in-person experience and mostly stuck to couch surfing.
This was all to be expected, which is why it shouldn’t surprise most when Adobe reported Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were up 22% and 15% year-over-year (YoY). The key questions that arise from these statistics:
As the “measure of the digital world,” SimilarWeb is exploring this question across multiple mediums, industries, and product categories; however, in this article, we explore how this question relates to specifically one mega-retailer: Amazon.
Product Views and Purchases YoY & Weeks Leading Up
At the surface level, it appears that Amazon’s performance on Black Friday was strong – increasing product views and purchases 8% and 18% YoY, respectively. On the contrary, Cyber Monday experienced a 3% increase in views, but a staggering 14% drop in purchases.
However, the growth and decline on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is deceiving and relativity is critical in the time of COVID.
In 2019, product views increased 135% on Black Friday and purchases rose a staggering 169% vs. the leadup week. In 2020, the leadup week features elevated product views and purchases (34% and 54% increase), as consumers have shifted their shopping habits toward online.
Based on the elevated digital levels, this requires SimilarWeb to calculate an adjusted growth rate for 2020, which shows Black Friday purchases are actually down 23% and Cyber Monday 44%.* It’s important to not look at the numbers in a vacuum, as Amazon’s (delayed) Prime Day in October and retailers starting their holiday promotions earlier than normal, it should be no surprise the “shine” is a little worn from the actual Black Friday holiday.
Top Categories Growth
Similar to elevated digital activity, a persistent theme throughout the pandemic is the propensity for consumers to shop for their homes. Tools & Home Improvement and Patio, Lawn and Garden are two categories that have grown significantly throughout 2020 (up 54% and 66% in October YoY). Both categories featured double-digit growth on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as shoppers continue to enhance their socially distant lifestyle.
Unlike Prime Day, where the top purchased categories mirrored an “average” shopping day on Amazon, Black Friday and Cyber Monday introduce a heightened demand for Toys & Games. Consumers shopping for their kids propelled the category into the top five (excluding Grocery & Foods), with a 7% growth rate on Black Friday YoY; however, the growth rate was not sustained on Cyber Monday.
At first glance, it might be a bit surprising to see a decrease within the Video Games category, given the launch of the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. High demand and low inventory led to an increase in product views throughout the holiday, but a decrease in purchases, as Amazon (and other retailers) struggled to keep the consoles in stock.
The demand for Video Games is evident in consumer search terms as well. The PlayStation 5 tops the Amazon search ranking on Black Friday and finishes second on Cyber Monday. Perhaps indicative of things to come, the Xbox Series X doesn’t make an appearance until #19, behind two alternative PlayStation 5 keywords and the ever-popular Nintendo Switch. The Cyber Monday sale focused on gaming monitors helped propel the keyword to the top of the rankings.
Notably absent from the top search terms are Amazon products. In fact, an Amazon-branded product does not appear in the search rankings until #33 – highlighting the ability for Amazon to leverage the homepage to direct consumers to their products.
Top Products
The power of the homepage is highlighted in the fact that Amazon-branded products control five of the top ten slots on Black Friday and eight on Cyber Monday. This trend is consistent with October’s Prime Day when Amazon-branded products controlled eight of the top ten and half of the top fifty products.
One major distinction between the two events is purchase volume – overlapping ASINs were purchased 2-4x more frequently on Prime Day than Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Highlighting that consumers felt more comfortable buying their Amazon-branded devices on Prime Day and potentially that Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a better showcase for more long-tail items in the Amazon marketplace.
Conclusion
According to a report by the National Retail Federation (NRF), fewer online shoppers bought gifts in 2020, and those who did ended up spending less than last year. The elevated digital shopping levels in 2020 require an adjusted measurement of demand and so far Amazon is lagging behind 2019 performance. There are several contributions to the weak results (e.g. Prime Day only a month before, discount fatigue, earlier start date); however, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the only beginning. The month of December can tell a different, more positive story….except for the Detroit Lions.
The early indicators from Black Friday and Cyber Monday on Amazon reinforce the position from the NRF. As mentioned, nothing is normal about 2020, and insights/analysis need to be adjusted for the current behavior.
To learn more about the data behind this article and what Similarweb has to offer, visit https://www.similarweb.com/.
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