Retailers can expect fresh opportunities and challenges, technological advancements and possible consolidation in 2021, the Digital Commerce 360 staff says. Shopping patterns are unlikely to return to the 'normal' of late 2019.
Digital Commerce 360 Staff | | Digital Commerce 360 | Retail
Digital Commerce 360 editors reveal the most read stories of 2020. The articles cover the challenging but exciting year for online retailers, as they adapt their businesses to new consumer shopping habits because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Digital Commerce 360 Staff | | Digital Commerce 360 | Retail
The Digital Commerce 360 staff is ringing in 2021 after a challenging, yet exciting year in online retail. Here are the top 15 favorite ecommerce stories of the year, as selected by our editors.
Gains in nonstore spending accounted for more than three-quarters of all retail growth for the month. Total retail sales through all channels decelerated for the second consecutive month but still reached a robust 8.9%.
Survey data indicates 38.7 million shoppers placed at least one online delivery or pickup grocery order during the prior 30 days. That's up from 37.5 million in August but down from 45.6 million in June.
U.S. shoppers spent a record $34.36 billion on retail websites over the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, up from $28.49 billion for the same period last year. Digital revenue missed projections as more shoppers heeded retailer warnings to shop earlier to avoid out-of-stock items or shipping delays and took advantage of pre-Thanksgiving discounts.
Digital revenue for the retail holiday increased at roughly half the rate of optimistic projections, but online retailers still raked in a record $10.8 billion.
While a 21.6% online sales bump is higher than 2019's Black Friday growth, it falls short of projections likely because of retailers offering deep promotions early in the season. Like all of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic impacted spending behavior on Black Friday, with more consumers shopping online, more consumers opting for buy online pick up in store, and retailers offering promotions earlier than ever.
The van drought sprang from pandemic-induced shutdowns at factories that build the high-ceiling and box-like vehicles—just as soaring ecommerce ratcheted up demand for home deliveries.
The new ecommerce site features use Adobe's Sensei AI technology to improve product recommendations and site search. Meanwhile, Adobe Analytics says U.S. online sales grew 32% year over year from Nov. 11 to Nov 23.