Walmart Inc.’s share of web traffic among Top 1000 retailers fell 17.3% during the Cyber 5 in 2024 compared to last year, according to Digital Commerce 360 analysis of Similarweb data.
And it wasn’t alone. Of the five major holiday retailers, only Amazon.com Inc. held its share steady this year.
During the Cyber 5, the five-day period starting on Thanksgiving and running through Cyber Monday, those five retailers still made up 39.0% of all traffic to Top 1000 sites, with Amazon alone accounting for 26.6% of visits.
Top retailers lose Cyber 5 traffic share
Retailers gain on Amazon during Cyber 5
However, looking at the shorter term, those retailers gained share mightily from a control period three weeks prior, stealing share from Amazon on the nation’s largest shopping weekend. Amazon’s share of Top 1000 site visits fell 8.7% compared to the control period, while Walmart grew 6.7% and electronics retailer Best Buy, a common place to buy big ticket gifts, jumped 76.1%.
Last year, the opposite happened, with Amazon gobbling up traffic share during the holidays. This year, shoppers may be more hungry for deals, shopping around for the best prices before checking out. Shoppers may also be looking more frantically as the shorter holiday shopping period, just three weeks this year, means gifts need to arrive quickly.
Amazon loses traffic share during Cyber 5
Strong Cyber 5 bumps
This year’s Cyber 5 was the largest holiday weekend on record for ecommerce sales, according to Adobe Analytics. Shoppers were waiting out an uncertain election season, feelings of inflation and less competitive summer shopping holidays for good deals on gifts and personal purchases.
Shoppers also just weren’t seeing as many deals prior to Thanksgiving, with just 65.0% of Digital Commerce 360’s panel of 100 top retailers offering homepage discounts in a check prior to Cyber Monday. That jumped up to 90.0% on Cyber Monday, and with those deals came increased sales.
Black Friday provides largest traffic bump
That’s borne out by traffic data. For the five-day period, traffic was up 50.0% compared to the control three weeks earlier. On Black Friday, traffic was up 88.0%. During the Cyber 5, Walmart grew 60.0% from the control period, while Costco nearly doubled. Best Buy posted the largest gain among top retailers, up 164.1%, while Amazon grew just 36.9%.
Still, Similarweb data showed Amazon.com far ahead of its competitors in terms of its sheer volume of website visits. Amazon saw 120.9 million visits on Black Friday, with Walmart in a distant second place at 29.7 million visits.
Amazon leads ecommerce sites in Black Friday web traffic
Among Top 1000 retailers outside the largest ecommerce players, Macy’s Inc. stood out growing traffic 197.0% and nearly doubling its share of Top 1000 traffic. Other top gainers include common gift sources like Saxx Underwear (up 232.0%), jewelry retailer Kendra Scott (up 229.2%) and DSW owner Designer Brands (up 219.8%).
Black Friday gives Top 1000 retailers biggest traffic gains
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