Cyber Monday Almost Breaks the Internet
Black Friday? Get outa here! As daylight hours shorten and extreme snowstorms overrun great swathes of the United States, shoppers are thinking twice about risking death by stampede or snowdrift.
Adobe Analytics, which tracks online transactions, shows the public waiting for payday at November’s end, before cozying up with a hot bevy to surf internet deals at home instead. 80% of America’s biggest retailers pulled together $9.4 billion in sales yesterday. That’s up 18% on last year’s $7.9 billion, and even further ahead of Black Friday’s $7.4 billion total. Not bad for a day’s work!
Retail stocks are concerned with the share of those online shopping dollars. Cyber Monday is a test of personalized marketing efforts, and for investors scanning for indicators of outperformers, Adobe can share some intel.
Disney, for one, nailed the timing of its ‘Frozen 2’ premiere, with merchandise selling like hotcakes yesterday. Video game house Electronic Arts saw sports titles like ‘FIFA 20’ and ‘Madden 20’ fly off the shelves, and sales of the Nintendo Switch were strong enough to lift the company’s stock price. Investors have a great collaboration with Best Buy to thank for that!
Despite the success, the festive buzz was almost killed before these bumper spending figures came through. ISM manufacturing data disappointed investors, but what’s key right now is that consumers are confident. Come Friday, non-farm payrolls data will give us insight into how far that confidence will stretch for investors’ bottom-lines. It’s one measure of how much money everyone has to spend this holiday season, and it could be the most important economic indicator of the year. Not one to miss!
