{"id":9037,"date":"2024-10-22T19:03:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tup.kxe.temporary.site\/what-to-expect-for-the-holidays\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T19:03:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:03:39","slug":"what-to-expect-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/okdesign.ca\/en\/what-to-expect-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"What to expect for the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"


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With about a month to go until Black Friday, marketers are wondering how this year will stack up against previous holiday seasons. Amazon\u2019s Prime Big Deal Days, which ran October 8 and 9<\/a>, saw lower U.S. sales than last year. This runs counter to an Adobe projection of a record-breaking ecommerce holiday season.<\/p>\n

A closer look at Amazon\u2019s October promotion shows a silver lining, however. Despite extreme weather in the Southeast this month, promotions in the U.S. and globally seemed to work well with customers, especially when prices were cut. <\/p>\n

Dig deeper: <\/em><\/strong>2024 online holiday spending set for record year with $240 billion in sales<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A look at Prime Big Deal Days<\/h2>\n

Globally, non-Amazon retailers had flat sales growth compared to last year, according to Salesforce. In the U.S. retailers saw a 5% decline in sales. Europe, on the other hand, was up 9% YoY.<\/p>\n

Amazon fared better for conversions than its U.S. competitors, who held promotions the same week. Ecommerce tech solution PriceSpider measured conversion rates on October 8 and found Amazon (12.6%) far ahead of Walmart (8.1%) and Target (4%).<\/p>\n

U.S. web traffic was down 2% for October 8 and 9, Salesforce said. Retailers weren\u2019t driving the same traffic or purchases as they did last year. A contentious election and bad weather in the Southeast appear to be key factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmazon Prime Big Deal Days performance was lower than expected this year, most likely due to recent weather events and consumer uncertainty around the upcoming U.S. election,\u201d said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce. \u201cAnd while discount rates were more enticing than last year, retailers still stayed conservative in preparation for robust Cyber Week deals, contributing to the fall in overall results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s sales numbers raise the possibility that U.S. shoppers will be in a buying mood after Election Day.<\/p>\n

Gift buyers seeking deals<\/h2>\n

Prime Big Deal Days offer a glimpse into shopping trends for the rest of the season. Thus far, the discounts are bigger, according to Salesforce \u2014 good news for shoppers and a signal to retailers to consider slashing prices.<\/p>\n

During Prime Big Deal Days, U.S. discount rates were up 4% year-over-year, for an average discount rate of 21%. Globally, discount rates rose 9% over last year. The global average this year was 18% for Prime days.<\/p>\n

The highest discounted categories globally were general apparel (average discount 27%), electronics and accessories (20%) and health and beauty (17%). The electronics category saw a significant increase in discount rate, up 25% year-over-year.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., the biggest discounts were in general apparel (31% average discount), health and beauty (20%) and food and beverage (13%). The health and beauty discount rate was up 27% YoY. Food and beverage\u2019s discount rate was up 23% YoY.<\/p>\n

Discounts proved to be an effective tool to drive sales for discounted categories. Here are the top performing categories globally:<\/p>\n