In 2023, online sales transactions during Black Friday in Colombia generated revenues of approximately 370 million Colombian pesos, representing a change of around 12 percent when compared to the prior year. Around 100 million users were expected to access the platforms to shop during the Black Friday days.

Data on the 2023 edition of the Amazon Black Friday shopping event showed that the actual shopping day usually registered the most outstanding performance. Compared to the average sales of previous week, Black Friday sales increased by 203 percent in Germany. However, the increase was the lowest in Italy, where online sales incresed by 77 percent on Black Friday.

Apparel and accessories was the e-commerce category with the highest share in total retail sales in the United States as of February 2023. 18.3 percent of all retail sales in the fashion segment were generated online. The category with the second-highest percentage of retail sales in the U.S. was furniture, at 15.7 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, office equipment and supplies had the lowest share of retail sales, below two percent.

The continuous rise of e-commerce

Online shopping is on the rise in the United States. The share of all retail sales in the U.S. stemming from online shopping has increased from 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to a record-breaking 15.6 percent in the third quarter of 2023. Consequently, the sales of retail e-commerce have surged from 39 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2010 to more than 280 billion U.S. dollars in the third quarter of 2023. This boom is forecast to continue over the next few years, with the estimated revenue from online sales, including digital services, reaching 1.72 trillion U.S. dollars by 2027.

The king of e-commerce

In the United States, the number of online shoppers continues to grow. In 2023, there were more than a quarter of a million online shoppers, and the number is forecast to reach over 300 million by 2028. The most popular online shopping destination in the U.S., Amazon, sees a surge of shoppers during certain shopping occasions, which feature appealing bargains that encourage extravagant spending. In 2023, the biggest increase in sales occurred on Black Friday, with an increase of nearly 35 percent. Amazon's deal event for Prime members, Prime Day, saw 17 percent more sales. As for Cyber Monday, sales went up by 13 percent.

In 2023, about a third of consumers in the Netherlands were planning to shop during Black Friday. Despite the rise of Green Friday, an event focused on ethical and sustainable consumption of goods, the number of people taking advantage of Black Friday in the Netherlands (and worldwide) has also grown.

Sales Growth: Black Friday data was reported at 10.180 % in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 15.300 % for 2023. Sales Growth: Black Friday data is updated yearly, averaging 27.210 % from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2024, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 72.930 % in 2018 and a record low of -15.030 % in 2017. Sales Growth: Black Friday data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Brazilian Association of Eletronic Commerce. The data is categorized under Brazil Premium Database’s Domestic Trade – Table BR.HF004: E-commerce: Sales Growth.

In 2024, holiday retail sales in the United States were forecast to reach about 979.5 billion U.S. dollars. This figure was given as a conservative value; retail sales over the holiday season was projected to be between 979.5 billion U.S. dollars to 989 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Holiday retail sales have risen substantially since the turn of the century, with holiday retail sales amounting to approximately 416 billion U.S. dollars back in 2002. Holiday retail sales are a fraction of total retail sales in the United States which were around seven trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. Holiday season e-commerce is also on the rise, with increasing numbers of retailers and consumers going digital. What makes up the winter holiday season in the United States? The winter holiday season includes shopping occasions such as Thanksgiving weekend - which is made up of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, Super Saturday – the last Saturday before Christmas, and Christmas itself. Thanksgiving weekend is a very popular time for consumers to partake in holiday shopping. In 2022, over 100 million U.S. consumers shopped on Black Friday. Leading companies in U.S. retail The domestic retail market in the United States is very competitive, with many companies recording substantial retail sales. Walmart, a retail chain offering low prices and a wide selection of products, is the leading retailer in the United States. Amazon, The Kroger Co., Costco, and Target are a selection of other leading U.S. retailers.

In 2019, consumers in Peru are expected to purchase an average of 3.7 products per person during the celebration of Black Friday. Of the Latin American countries included in this study, Colombia ranked second in number of items expected to be purchased during the event, with an average of 3.6 products per capita.

In 2023, nearly 80 percent of consumers taking part in a survey in Italy stated that they were planning to shop during Black Friday. At around 20 percent, the number of people who did not plan on buying anything was much lower.

In 2023, nearly 80 percent of consumers taking part in a survey in Italy stated that they were planning to shop during Black Friday. The number of people who said that they intended to shop during Cyber Monday was slightly lower, at about 61 percent.

This statistic shows the value of spending over the course of the Black Friday weekend (from Friday to Cyber Monday) in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2016 to 2023, with a forecast for 2024, broken down by online and offline spending. Consumers are expected to spend a total of over nine billion British pounds over the course of the Black Friday weekend in 2024, nearly five billion of which will be spent in stores.

In March 2024, Amazon.com had approximately 2.2 billion combined web visits, up from 2.1 billion visits in February. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Amazon’s net income amounted to approximately 20 billion U.S. dollars. Online retail in the United States Online retail in the United States is constantly growing. In the third quarter of 2023, e-commerce sales accounted for 15.6 percent of retail sales in the United States. During that quarter, U.S. retail e-commerce sales amounted to over 284 billion U.S. dollars. Amazon is the leading online store in the country, in terms of e-commerce net sales. Amazon.com generated around 130 billion U.S. dollars in online sales in 2022. Walmart ranked as the second-biggest online store, with revenues of 52 billion U.S. dollars. The king of Black Friday In 2023, Amazon ranked as U.S. shoppers' favorite place to go shopping during Black Friday, even surpassing in-store purchasing. Nearly six out of ten consumers chose Amazon as the number one place to go find the best Black Friday deals. Similar findings can be observed in the United Kingdom (UK), where Amazon is also ranked as the preferred Black Friday destination.

In 2023, about 66 percent of female consumers taking part in a survey in Italy were planning to purchase fashion items during Black Friday. The number of men intending to do the same was lower, at about 58 percent.

In 2024, about 52 percent of consumers in the United States intended to spend roughly the same amount of money on Christmas goods as they did in the respective previous year. A quarter of American respondents intended to spend less for Christmas, whilst 20 percent expected to spend more. Christmas celebrations in the U.S. In the United States, Christmas is one of the biggest holidays of the year: according to a survey, roughly eight and a half out of 10 Americans stated they would celebrate the holiday. Only about 10 percent of Americans were not planning to partake in any celebrations. Holiday promotions In the past few years, holiday retail sales in the United States have skyrocketed. In 2023, U.S. holiday retail sales figures reached just over 950 billion U.S. dollars, which was an increase of some 20 billion just compared to the year before. The winter holiday season includes shopping occasions, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On days such as these, retail products are somewhat to significantly cheaper, making them opportune moments for holiday shopping. When asked when they would likely start their holiday shopping, about 40 percent of U.S. consumers said they would begin in November already, i.e., when these major sales events take place.

Amazon not only boasts a hugely successful online retail platform but also a thriving digital marketplace which is seamlessly integrated with the main retail shopping experience. That being said, in the fourth quarter 2024, 62 percent of paid units were sold by third-party sellers. 1P and 3P Amazon sellers There are many ways of selling on Amazon. Firstly there are first-party (1P) vendor sales, where vendors send their inventory to Amazon, who in turn control the pricing and include “ships from and sold by Amazon.com” on product listings. The benefits of 1P sales on Amazon are wholesale purchases from Amazon, priority selling and brand trust through Amazon’s credibility as a seller. Amazon also permits third-party (3P) sales on its marketplace. Both individuals and professional sellers can sell on Amazon Marketplace. When it comes to order fulfillment, possible options are Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM). Items are displayed as “sold by MERCHANT and Fulfilled by Amazon / Fulfilled by MERCHANT”. 3P sales are a popular strategy for sellers to make up for certain 1P sales disadvantages, namely improved margins through better pricing control, more favorable payment terms and less reliance on the relationship with Amazon. Amazon seller revenues This magic formula has ultimately cashed in for Amazon, which has seen its net revenues multiply in recent years. In 2023, the e-commerce giant generated approximately 140 billion dollars in third-party seller services, an increase of about 23 billion dollars from the previous year. While these figures are the product of orders throughout the year, a significant chunk is attributable to special offer and discount days. According to a survey, Black Friday is the shopping event driving the largest sales increase for Amazon sellers, followed by two of the company's own events, Prime Day and Amazon Summer Sale. In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon Prime Day played a particularly decisive role for small and medium-sized businesses around the world, many of which had to turn to online sales overnight in order to survive.

In December 2023, Amazon.co.uk recorded 416.2 million visits, up from the previous months. The traffic peak was due to popular end of year sales events and holiday shopping. Browsers and buyers on Amazon during Black Week Amazon’s UK platform was the buzzing with users not just during Black Friday, but on Cyber Monday according to traffic figures from 2018. While there were more Amazon browsers on Cyber Monday, when it came to actual transactions , Black Friday bore better results with more transactions taking place this day. A lucrative market in the UK Amazon gets special attention from UK consumers on special shopping events such as Prime Day and Black Friday, but the UK has been a lucrative market since the online retailer started its operations there in 2002. In 2018, Amazon reported net sales of about 15 billion US dollars in this market. This makes the UK Amazon’s second biggest European market after Germany.

In 2023, the best-selling category was clothing with a revenue of almost 14.6 billion euros; however, it did experience a significant decrease compared to the previous year. Shopping paradise The revenue figures for these product groups were most likely significantly influenced by the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown in Germany, with online shopping replacing some former brick-and-mortar purchases. Online shopping in Germany has enjoyed consistent success even before the pandemic due to its many convenient features for the customer. To name a few: 24/7 availability, browsing and buying independently of a location (whether in terms of the retailer or the shopper), home delivery, and the opportunity to compare various retailers easily. In 2022, 91 percent of German internet users shopped online. When it came to shopping events such as Black Friday, the overwhelming majority of German shoppers made their purchases online. Only eight percent of consumers went to physical stores in 2023, whilst almost 60 percent shopped online. Amazon rules Certain online shops are especially popular in Germany, recording impressive revenue figures year after year. Like most of the world, Germans also shop on Amazon. In fact, when looking at Amazon’s net sales, Germany was the second-largest market, making almost 38 billion U.S. dollars. The convenience of Amazon’s platform is what makes it so attractive to consumers. There are a variety of different categories from which consumers can make purchases, such as electronics, homeware, and even fashion. The popularity of Amazon is also reflected in consumer opinions. When surveyed about favorite online stores, Amazon came out on top, with 78 percent of respondents having bought something from there in the past 12 months. Ebay and Otto.de followed in the ranking.

In 2023, the average price of a 16-pound turkey during Thanksgiving in the United States (U.S.) amounted to 27.35 U.S. dollars. All other ingredients were within the price range of 0.84 and 4.16 U.S. dollars. A dozen dinner rolls cost the American consumer on average 4.16 U.S. dollars. While a one pound vegetable tray with carrots and celery comes to 0.84 U.S. dollars. Historic prices for Thanksgiving dinner ingredients in the U.S. The meaning of Thanksgiving for around two-thirds of Americans is to spend time with the family or to be thankful. Moreover, for almost half of Americans, Thanksgiving means having a good meal. Costs for Thanksgiving dinners have mostly increased in 2023, after showing a significant price spike the year prior for all elements of a Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, 2022 experienced the largest year-over-year percentage price increases for Thanksgiving dinner items in the U.S. since 2008. In comparison to the previous year, the prices for potatoes dropped, while other key ingredients still got more expensive in 2023 compared to 2022. To accommodate for higher grocery prices, more than four-fifths of Americans who hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in 2022, stated in a survey that they would look for deals and discounts. Approximately 75 percent of Thanksgiving hosts stated that they would seek out stores that offer the lowest food prices or buy store-brand products. Shopping during Thanksgiving weekend In 2024, a total of 183.4 million people in the U.S. were forecast to shop during Thanksgiving weekend. This is approximately 27.1 million people more than during the year 2020 when significantly fewer people went shopping due to the impact of the pandemic. This is also an increase of 1.4 million compared to shopping figures of 2023. The Thanksgiving weekend typically refers to Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. According to a recent survey on the topic, approximately 32 percent of U.S. consumers were planning to spend between 100 and 199 U.S. dollars for Thanksgiving in 2024. The main shopping location for U.S. consumers during Thanksgiving is the grocery store, where close to three-quarters of consumers do their shopping. Mass retailers are on the list of locations to shop at for almost half of U.S. shoppers during the Thanksgiving weekend.