This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
In a dazzling display of consumer enthusiasm, Amazon has announced that its Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday event has set new records, making it the most successful Thanksgiving holiday shopping period in the company’s history. Other online retailers reported similar results.
Taylor Schreiner from Adobe Analytics told KIRO Newsradio’s Heather Bosch, “We’ve seen about a 9% overall increase in purchases over last year and there are definitely deals to be had across the board.”
Shoppers flocked to Amazon’s virtual aisles from November 21 through December 2, snapping up deals and saving billions. Echo and Fire TV devices flew off the digital shelves, with the latest Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick 4K leading the charge. Top categories included electronics, toys, and beauty, featuring hot items like Beats headphones, Samsung TVs, Barbie dolls, Play-Doh, Shark vacuums, and Medicube beauty devices.
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“What was interesting is that we saw people using their phones to shop at a level that has never been seen before,” Schreiner explained. “About half of the sales from Black Friday to Cyber Monday were coming from phone purchases.”
Independent sellers, many of them small and medium-sized businesses, also celebrated a banner season, contributing over 60% of sales. Brands like JLab, Blissy, Luxe Weavers, and The Woobles were among the standout performers.
“We know how much our customers appreciate saving money, and our customers saved billions with us during this year’s holiday shopping event,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores. “And we have many more fun and exciting ways for them to continue to save this holiday season.”
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A study from ecommerce analytics firm Profitero found that Amazon’s prices were, on average, 14% lower than those of other leading U.S. retailers entering the holiday season.
As the holiday season continues, Amazon said it will have millions more deals worldwide. Customers can explore trending gifts in Amazon’s Holiday Shop, featuring top brands like Dyson, Ninja, Sony, and YETI. Special promotions, such as up to 40% off on fashion and fitness favorites from brands like Columbia, Hugo Boss, and Lacoste, will run from December 3-14.
Amazon is also leveraging innovative AI features to enhance the shopping experience. Rufus, Amazon’s AI-powered shopping assistant, helps customers find tailored deals and gifts, while AI Shopping Guides provide detailed product information to aid in decision-making. The Amazon Lens visual shopping tool and the Find-on-Amazon feature further simplify the shopping process.
“We’re seeing about 20 times the use of AI shopping apps this year then we saw last year,” Schreiner said. “Consumers used AI for finding the appropriate gift for a certain age group to finding best prices.”
To accommodate holiday returns, most items purchased between November 1 and December 31 can be returned through January 31.
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