Source: Thorston Wagner/Bloomberg/Getty Images
By Seth Gellman
Throughout the pandemic, many have turned to online shopping in order to buy goods that they didn’t feel comfortable buying in stores. Online shopping has been rising exponentially for years, especially with the rise of Amazon, and the pandemic has boosted it even more.
According to Jason Wooley, Vice President of Commerce Product and Platform at Adobe, the e-commerce industry can potentially skyrocket even more if another lockdown is instituted.
Online sales this November and December are expected to increase by 33% year over year to $189 billion, a record high, according to Adobe Analytics. This data is based on web transactions between 80 of the top 100 U.S. online retailers.
Adobe also predicts that if brick and mortar stores shut down and another round of stimulus checks is released, another $11 billion could be spent online. It expects online sales to pass $2 billion every day from Nov. 1 to Nov. 21.
Through Dec. 31, Americans are likely to spend $28.1 billion more on their phones this year, accounting for 42% of all online sales.
Black Friday, where shoppers traditionally wait in long lines to get the best deals, will likely have a surge in online sales, as the incentives to wait in such a long line have decreased. Cyber Monday is predicted to bring in $12.7 billion in sales, up 35% from 2019.
Many Americans have also taken to supporting small businesses, who have struggled throughout the pandemic, and are expected to make a 107% increase in revenue collectively, compared to 84% for larger retailers.
The election may also have an impact on online shopping, as online sales dropped 14% the day after Donald Trump was elected in 2016, and fell 6% after the 2018 midterms. 63% of retailers told Adobe that they expect Americans to be more confident in online shopping after the election. If the results of the election are disputed, there may be a drop in sales or a pause.
Adobe estimates that 9% of online shoppers will be making their first online purchase this year.
As many are uncertain about the future of brick and mortar businesses while the pandemic is hitting its second wave, online retailers are looking forward to a very profitable season, and they want to make sure people continue to shop online after the pandemic, with or without brick and mortar businesses in the picture.
