Online Shopping Shatters Old Records on Black Friday 2020

Economic Woes Didn’t Stop Online Shoppers

Many experts were wondering how holiday sales would turn out in the wake of the pandemic. With many stores having to change their policies due to the influx of Coronavirus cases, there was significant doubt as to how well the economy would perform. In addition to changing the physical shopping experience, experts also wondered if the economic situation would impact how much households were willing to spend.

Miraculously, statistics indicate that holiday sales did not just exceed expectations–they overcame them. 

The small businesses who prepared to switch their business model with eCommerce SEO did exponentially well. We’re excited to see the consumers helping out the small businesses through tough times in 2020. These sales numbers are encouraging a ton of businesses to completely stay up with the times in terms of their digital marketing.

The Lead-Up to the Holiday Weekend

Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw a lot of trouble leading up to the holidays. Coronavirus cases continue to spike in huge cities. Businesses are forced to either close or limit the number of people in the store at a time. Due to some states having to go back down into lockdown, manufacturers had to reduce the number of products they could produce.

All of this was occurring with the fact that households are still suffering financially. Many people are still out of work. Those that are able to return find themselves either working part-time or being forced to stop as businesses are closed again and again.

Despite economic uncertainty, this did not seem to stop holiday sales.

Thanksgiving saw a significant rise in sales. However, the majority of those sales came from online sources. In fact, compared to past Thanksgiving days, this year saw an increase in online sales by 20%. The amount raked in through online stores was $5 billion.

Interestingly, half of the online transactions that took place were conducted on a smartphone.

Those retailers who offered curbside pick-up for those who ordered online sales also had a stronger conversion rate in their sales.

Black Friday saw similar growth. They had an identical increase in online sales. Consumers ended up spending $9 billion despite their financial insecurity. The number of people who used their smartphones to pay for purchases was 40% of the total consumer base. 

Small Businesses Flourished

Luckily, small businesses saw a good deal of sales. Their sales increased by 500% compared to what was happening in October. That would continue into Saturday with revenue growth of 300%.

This means that small businesses that made the investment in switching to online sales and service were able to bring in substantial financial growth. 

The Smartphone Angle

Perhaps one of the most interesting trends of these holiday sales is that most of them were conducted by a smartphone. This only further confirms that consumers are relying on their smartphones to purchase goods and services over other platforms. Small businesses that want to continue to engage their consumers and bring in sales need to ensure that they have a website that is mobile-friendly or design an app specifically for their company. 

Switching to an eCommerce & Online Service

By making your website SEO-friendly and having a mobile site available for smartphone users, your business can have just as much success as some of the other small businesses that made the investment. Building a competitive edge in the market is important moving forward. Businesses panicked in 2020 because their “offline” sales weren’t ready to be online.

SEO Locale is a premier SEO company in Philadelphia that provides top-notch digital marketing services. We’ve been doing digital marketing for decades and can help you pivot your company to a better 2021, contact us today.