Online Shopping Dominates Holiday Sales Results so Far

Amazon is the top online holiday shopping destination for US consumers

This year, a record-breaking 57% of consumers opted to do the majority or entirety of their holiday shopping online, marking an unprecedented high. 

Amazon is the top online holiday shopping destination for US consumers

Amazon emerged as the preferred choice among American shoppers for online holiday shopping.

Online holiday shopping has seen a boom this year, surpassing previous records, a recent survey revealed. This is a noteworthy 57%, which is a significant increase from the 51% recorded in 2022. The peak in online holiday shopping was previously recorded in 2020 at 55%, which is the first time online shopping has crossed the 50% threshold.

Traditional brick-and-mortar big box stores like Walmart and Best Buy saw a decline in popularity, with only 18% of respondents reporting that they primarily shopped at such locations for holiday gifts. This figure has steadily decreased since 2010 when it accounted for a substantial 48% of responses. Other shopping destinations included locally owned non-chain stores (16%), department stores (8%), outlets (7%), wholesale retailers (4%), chains (3%), and luxury stores (1%).

The survey findings align with online shopping data, as the Cyber 5 period, encompassing Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, witnessed a remarkable $38.0 billion in online sales in the U.S., according to Adobe Analytics. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday each set new records for online sales, with Cyber Monday reaching an unprecedented $12.4 billion in U.S. sales.

Amazon emerged as the leading online holiday shopping destination, with 74% of respondents who primarily shopped online stating that they conducted most of their online shopping on the platform. Although a decrease from the peak of 81% in 2019, Amazon remained the overwhelmingly preferred choice. In a broader context, 43% of all adults identified Amazon as their top online shopping destination.

Walmart secured the second spot among online retail destinations, with 16% of primarily online shoppers and 9% of all adults designating it as their top choice. Walmart reported its most successful sales days ever during the Cyber 5 period, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday leading the way.

Other major retailers such as Target and Best Buy also attracted online shoppers, but with less prominence. Specialty online stores like Etsy and department stores like Macy's and Kohl's made up the remaining preferences, reflecting a diverse landscape of online holiday shopping choices. Target and Best Buy experienced notable declines in traffic share over Cyber 5, down by 6.8% and 10.9%, respectively.