The Thanksgiving weekend traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday sales season for retailers, and early indicators suggest a strong e-commerce holiday season ahead. Salesforce is continuously monitoring activity and has just released its initial data. As of 2pm ET, online sales have increased by 7% globally and 4% in the U.S. compared to 2023, generating $15.6 billion and $3.1 billion in sales respectively.
In comparison, last year’s Thanksgiving saw sluggish online shopping, with sales totaling $31.7 billion globally and $7.5 billion in the U.S., both up only 1%.
Salesforce’s 2024 figures are based on shopping data from 1.5 billion consumers across its Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Service Cloud. More information can be found here.
This post will be updated with additional figures from Adobe, another online sales tracker. Last year, Adobe Analytics reported $5.6 billion spent online in the U.S. on Thanksgiving, a 5.5% increase from the previous year.
Despite economic uncertainties, retailers are offering average discounts of 24% globally and 27% in the U.S. to attract shoppers.
Thanksgiving Day has become a significant mobile shopping day in the U.S., with most physical stores closed and people using their phones to shop for sales.
Salesforce predicts that the evening hours, after dinner, will see the highest volume of sales, with 35% taking place between 7pm and midnight. Thanksgiving is expected to be the biggest mobile shopping day of the week, with 73% of sales occurring on mobile devices.
The phenomenon of holiday shopping has expanded beyond the U.S., with Black Friday now observed worldwide and sales events being consolidated into “Cyber Week” even before Thanksgiving. Salesforce recorded a 7% and 14% increase in sales both globally and in the U.S. during this year’s Cyber Week.
Although e-commerce innovations may seem stagnant, generative AI is making its mark. Retailers are increasingly using digital agents and GenAI, with a 32% increase compared to the previous week.
Salesforce is highlighting these AI advancements as a business opportunity, but the actual impact on sales and user experience remains to be seen. Caila Schwartz, Director of Consumer Insights at Salesforce, notes that holiday shopping momentum is building during Cyber Week, with online traffic and sales on the rise as shoppers seek out the best deals via their mobile devices.
