The Most Plentiful Time Of the Year: Cyber Week Trends and Numbers For 2021

The post-pandemic Holiday Shopping season, which is usually counted from Black Friday until Christmas (McKinsey & Company), is predicted to hit new levels in 2021. Last year broke records in digital sales (Salesforce), reaching $1.1 trillion in global sales, up 50% from 2019. And from that number a total of 270$ billion were from Cyber Week alone. One thing’s for certain: retailers can make or break their annual quota in just a few days during the holiday season. Here’s why, and how!

Holiday Shopping is expected to start earlier in 2021

In 2021 the holiday season is predicted to kick off as early as on November 11th on Singles Day. Especially post-pandemic, there are good reasons for this. Demand has become “pent up” during lockdowns and unease, creating an opportunity for brands and retailers to connect with both customers as early as the summer. Furthermore, spreading out holiday gift shopping might be a consideration for many buyers watching their wallets (Forbes) after a financially stressful period.

Holiday Shopping and Cyber week thrive on digital and mobile

One thing 2020’s Holiday Shopping Season really showed was the massive boost of digital and mobile sales: 10 years of growth in digital sales channels (McKinsey & Company) were reached in the first three months of the pandemic. In the week leading up to Christmas, digital sales grew another 58% (Salesforce). There has also been a huge shift to smartphones with over half of digital Christmas revenue in 2020 coming from them: mobile comprised 71% of traffic and 55% of orders, while desktop saw 26% of traffic and 41% of orders year-on-year globally during Cyber Week.

Discovery Commerce: shopping inspiration has moved to social channels

Discovery commerce has brought shopping inspiration to social platforms where consumers are spending time anyway. This movement plays perfectly in the holiday season, when buyers are looking for gifts for their loved ones they might not usually buy for themselves. Almost 8 out of 10 consumers asked in a survey used a Facebook-owned app or service to find gifts last holiday season. And people are buying on these apps, too. Grand View Research has estimated that social commerce led to 11% of global retail e-commerce revenue in 2020, and created $474 billion in sales.

Your Holiday Shopping and Cyber Week success is defined by one thing

Shipping and logistics (McKinsey & Company) behind your Cyber Week strategy is what will make or break being able to benefit from this whopping demand on the marketplaces. After price and convenience of buying, shipping is what defines winners and losers of the holiday season.

Work with the experts

Tradebyte is the European number 1 integrator for fashion businesses, and specializes in making platform players successful. Their marketplace experts help clients prepare their business for Holiday Shopping and Cyber Week 2021. Find out more on tradebyte.com