How to Survive (Your Next) Peak Season
Peak season 2021 brought challenges that many retailers had never encountered before. Between shortages of goods and labor, many businesses found it difficult to meet the demand of their customers – and that was before peak season hit.
According to Adobe Analytics data, at the height of peak season shopping, U.S. consumers spent $12 million per minute on Cyber Monday. Despite Cyber Week sales being down 1.4% from 2020, their numbers show that online holiday shopping is still performing at record levels. In November alone, shoppers spent $109.8 billion online. That’s 11.9% over last year. In addition, it appears that peak shipping season in 2021 was spread out more than ever before.
As peak season 2021 moves into the rearview mirror, let’s not forget to look back on the year’s performance. We can prepare for next year’s peak season by examining the trends, mistakes, and successes that we saw in 2021.
Looking back at Peak Season 2021
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the holiday season is in full swing. But, compared to previous years, 2021 seems to be different. Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to be prevalent shopping days, but they’re not what they used to be. While in-store shopping increased in 2021, retailers suffered a 28% decline compared to pre-pandemic years. In-store shopping is not quite back to 2019 levels; however, more shoppers felt comfortable visiting stores in person this Black Friday than in 2020.
According to Adobe Analytics, online retailers made $8.9 billion in sales on Black Friday, down from a record of roughly $9 billion spent on the Friday after Thanksgiving a year ago. As more and more Americans do their holiday shopping as early as October, retailers have also stretched out their offers and deals. People have already spent more than $3 billion online on 19 different dates throughout the 2021 holiday season, compared with five last year. In addition, a National Retail Federation survey confirms that consumers had a head start with their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, stating that 46% of consumers started holiday shopping earlier this year than they typically do.
