Black Friday 2024 reinforced the ongoing transformation of the retail industry, with online shopping continuing its incline while traditional in-store shopping faced challenges. At The Commerce Team Global, we understand the complexities of these trends and are dedicated to helping retailers adapt and thrive in a digitally driven environment.
The Numbers
This year, U.S. retailers saw an online sales surge of $10.8 billion, reflecting a 10.2% increase compared to 2023, according to Adobe Analytics. During peak hours, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. across time zones, Americans spent $11.3 million per minute online.
Our partner Salesforce, which draws its data from 1.5 billion global consumers in its Commerce Cloud, reported that consumers spent $74.4 billion worldwide on Black Friday of which 23.3% were spent in the U.S.
Meanwhile, in-store traffic dropped by 8%, compared to last year reversing recovery trends seen in prior years. Mastercard found that Black Friday online sales rose 14.6% year over year, while in-store sales rose just 0.7% year over year.
The winners: Mobile Shopping and AI Chatbots
According to Adobe Analytics and Salesforce, more than half of online purchases on Black Friday were made on mobile devices, with AI-powered chatbots playing a significant role in driving these purchases. In fact, traffic to retail sites resulting from chatbot interactions surged by 1,800% compared to the previous year.
These figures highlight the need for retailers to invest in mobile optimisation and conversational AI to remain competitive.
Preparing for the Future
At The Commerce Team Global, we specialize in helping retailers stay ahead of the curve.
We've worked with global brands such as Unilever to optimise their
e-commerce platforms and prepare for the high-traffic season.
Whether you're looking to enhance your commerce tech stack for the new year or launch your site in as little as 4-6 weeks, we can support your digital transformation journey.
Reach out today at info@thecommerceteam.com to learn more.
