23 Black Friday Statistics (2023 Sales & 2024 Predictions)

The Black Friday statistics in this article shine a light on how the days following Thanksgiving have grown to become the most important period of the year for retailers.

We’ve almost come to think of Thanksgiving as the day before Black Friday, rather than the other way around.

Though Black Friday is nothing new - it’s been a thing since the 1970s, and possibly even earlier - the way we shop on Black Friday and subsequent days is evolving every year, from more people taking advantage of Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales, to a higher share of sales online and on mobile devices.

If you’re interested in what the data shows about how we shop during the biggest shopping event of the year, read on for the latest statistics.

Learn more: How to Use Black Friday & Cyber Monday to grow your eCommerce brand

Black Friday Shopping Statistics

The data tells us that Black Friday (and the surrounding days, including Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday, and the newly coined “Small Business Saturday”) is bigger than ever.

Check out the following statistics from the most recent Black Friday/Cyber Week to get an idea of just how massive this period is for retailers, as well as getting an idea of what consumers’ shopping habits look like at the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.

More than 1 in 2 Americans shop online or in-person during Cyber Week

2023 was a record Thanksgiving shopping period, with 200.4 million Americans making a purchase either online or in-person.

That's around 60% of the entire population of the US.

This is an increase on the record number of shoppers during Thanksgiving weekend 2022, and more than 20 million more than the same period in 2021.

Cyber Week saw 134.2 million shoppers online vs 121.4 million in-person

Online eclipsed brick and mortar, with 134.2 million online shoppers vs 121.4 million shopping in brick and mortar stores.

Online shopping was slightly up compared to 2022, rising from 130.2 million shoppers one year ago, while the number of people shopping in-person decreased from 122.7 million in 2022.

90.6 million people shopped online on Black Friday 2023

Black Friday was the biggest shopping day of the five-day period, with 166.8 million shoppers (up from 160.1 a year ago). A little over half of all Black Friday shoppers bought something online, with 90.6M, versus 76.2M in-store.

73.1 million people shopped online on Cyber Monday

While physical shoppers tail off from Sunday onwards, online retail booms on Cyber Monday, the last day of the Thanksgiving weekend shopping period.

73.1 million people bought something online on Cyber Monday 2022, putting it a little behind Black Friday as the second biggest day for eCommerce.

The combined online spend for Cyber Week totaled $38 billion

All up, a record $38 billion was spent online across Cyber Week 2023, up 7.8% from $35.3 billion in 2022.

US consumers spent $9.8 billion on Black Friday and $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday

The two biggest days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, contributed $9.8 billion and $12.4 billion respectively in online retail sales, with Cyber Monday seeing more money spent, despite fewer overall shoppers.

The Black Friday sales figures represent 7.5% growth year-on-year, while Cyber Monday grew 9.6% YoY.

Thanksgiving saw $5.6 billion in online sales (up 5.5% from 2022), and consumers spent $10.3 billion online across Saturday and Sunday (7.7% more than the previous year).

Consumers spent $15.7 million per minute during Cyber Monday peak

At the peak hour of 10pm-11pm EST on Cyber Monday, consumers spent a massive $15.7 million per minute.

US holiday season sales expected to near $1 trillion

After totaling $957.3 billion in 2022, holiday season sales (from November 1 through December 31) are forecasted to reach a new record in 2023 of $966.6 billion, edging ever closer to the trillion dollar mark.

59% of sales on Thanksgiving came on smartphones

Mobile commerce continues to grow in 2023, with more than half of all online sales on Thanksgiving day made via smartphones.

The 59% share of mobile commerce on this day was up from 55% the previous year.

51.8% of Cyber Week sales came on mobile

Overall, smartphones contributed 51.8% of all online sales across Cyber Week, mobile outpacing desktop as consumers’ favorite way to shop.

Average order value for November 2023 was 2.7% higher than 2022

Consumers are spending more in each order than a year before. Between November 1 and November 27, average order value was 2.7% higher than the same period last year.

The increase is higher over Thanksgiving weekend, with a 3.2% increase in AOV for the period of 25-26 November.

82% of people shop during Cyber Week

More than four out of five people say they shop at some point during Cyber Week, whether it’s online, in-person, or both.

2.5x as many people shop online vs in-person

Of these people, the majority say they plan to shop online. 68% of people shop online during Cyber Week, while only 27% shop at a brick and mortar store.

52% of those who don’t plan to shop on BFCM say it’s because they don’t like crowds

For people who don’t plan to shop during Cyber Week, more than half say it’s to avoid crowds.

Some simply aren’t interested in buying anything, or don’t want to spend money, while 8% think that Black Friday is a scam.

Target and Walmart are the top in-person Black Friday shopping destinations

For people who shop  in-person on Black Friday, more than two-thirds shop at Target, Walmart or both.

Kohl’s is the next most popular destination, with 41%, while Macy’s, Best Buy and Old Navy are a few other brands that get a spike in business on this date.

88% of people shop on Amazon on Black Friday weekend

Of people who shop online during Cyber Week, nearly all make a stop at Amazon.com.

88% of people report shopping on Amazon at some point during the period. Target (55%) and Walmart (51%) are also popular with the online crowd, as are the websites of some other big brick and mortar brands.

23% of people plan to spend over $1,000 this holiday season

Nearly a quarter of people say they plan to spend more than $1,000 this holiday season. 45% of people claimed they will spend $600 or more.

Consumers spent an average of $321.41 on holiday-related purchases during Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday shopping season, with an average of $321.41 spent on holiday-related items during this period. Most popular gift purchases include clothing and accessories, toys and gift cards.

55% of people took advantage of pre-Thanksgiving sales

With Black Friday weekend becoming more and more competitive, many brands opt to start their promotions earlier to get in front of the pack.

It seems customers are responsive to this strategy, with 55% of people saying they made a purchase from an early sale or promotion.

Promotions are coming earlier and earlier too, with 35% of people buying something on sale in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and 24% more than a week before.

Major categories see up to 2-2.5% more sales during Cyber Monday

It’s no surprise that Cyber Monday sales are much higher than the average day. 

Most categories see double their regular sales on Cyber Monday, or more. Apparel sales, for example, grow 189% compared to a regular day in October.

Other top-performing categories include appliances (up 166%), toys (up 140%) and furniture (up 129%).

Discounts hit record highs in 2023

Discounts are hitting record highs during Black Friday and the surrounding days.

The average Black Friday discount for electronics was 31% off in 2023, compared to 25% off the year before.

The average discount for furniture increased from 8% in 2022 to 21% in 2023. Apparel, sporting goods, televisions and appliances all saw higher discounts as well, while the average discount for toys decreased, from 34% in 2022 to 27% in 2023.

$940 million spent with Buy Now Pay Later on Cyber Monday

The usage of Buy Now Pay Later services hit new record highs in 2023. $940 million was spent on Cyber Monday through BNPL, up 42.5% on the previous year.

The total number of orders through BNPL services increased 11% from 2022, and between November 1 and November 27, a total of $8.3 billion has been spent, up 17% YoY.

Paid search drives 27% of online sales during Cyber Week

Paid search remains the top marketing channel for Cyber Week, driving 27% of online sales from Thanksgiving through to Cyber Monday.

However, this number is down slightly from 28% on 2022.

Direct is the #2 channel, with 21% share of sales. Organic search, email and affiliate are all fairly evenly distributed, while social media drives less than 5% of all Cyber Week sales.

Black Friday Trends: Three Predictions for the Future of Black Friday

The Black Friday figures above paint interesting reading on the current state of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the overall Thanksgiving sales period.

But how about the future of BFCM? What do these stats tell us about what Black Friday-Cyber Monday will look like next year, five years, ten years from now?

Here are three predictions for how Black Friday will evolve in the coming years.

• More sales on mobile: mobile commerce is growing at a fast rate, and eclipsed desktop eCommerce during Cyber Week 2023. With mobile shopping experiences getting better every year, expect this trend to continue.
• More early sales: we’ve seen that almost half of all shoppers already take advantage of pre-Thanksgiving sales. With the intense competition and ad costs during Cyber Week, look for more brands to run early promotions, potentially starting as soon as the start of November.
• More brands driving sales through owned channels: paid ads drive more than a quarter of all Cyber Week sales, but the cost of this keeps going up. Expect to see smart brands utilize “owned” channels, where they can drive sales more or less for free - such as email, SMS and push notifications via their mobile apps.

Sources

The data in this post was sourced from recent Black Friday-Cyber Monday/holiday spending reports from eMarketer Insider Intelligence, the National Retail Federation, Adobe Analytics and Drive Research.