By Matt Binder
While many brick-and-mortar stores have closed their doors during the coronavirus pandemic, online retailers have experienced a boom.
In fact, in April, ecommerce sites experienced traffic that surpassed last year’s Black Friday … every single day of the month.
According to a new report by ecommerce marketing data platform PriceSpider, since the beginning of last month, online shopping traffic has consistently surpassed Black Friday. Overall, it grew 108 percent over the year’s average.
“In the past few weeks, we’ve seen historic shifts across ecommerce, whether it be how much they’re buying, what they’re buying or where they’re buying it,” said PriceSpider CEO Anthony Ferry in a statement. The company partners with major brands to track retail data across thousands of online stores such as Walmart, Amazon, and Target.
The ecommerce boom is continuing throughout the pandemic, too. According to PriceSpider, traffic on May 3, a “record day,” was up 233 percent over an average day before the stay-at-home orders started.
It’s not just traffic either. Sales are up too. Transaction data analyzed by PriceSpider showed sales were up 22 percent from April 22 to April 28 compared to the week of Black Friday.
Unlike during Black Friday, shoppers aren’t motivated by deals. Instead, they’re stocking up on essentials.
The consumer electronics, health and beauty, food and beverage, and hardware categories saw growth as high as 589 percent over last year.
Analysts predict that retail will see a global loss of $2.1 trillion in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, Amazon announced that its Q1 revenue increased by 21 percent over last year, from more than $59 billion in 2019 to more than $75 billion this year.
This is all happening as a heated conversation explodes online about a projection that Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos could become the first trillionaire by 2026. While Bezos’ stock rises, his workers are looking forward to the company cutting their coronavirus wage increase and overtime pay next month.
