cyber monday

19+ Awesome Black Friday vs Cyber Monday Statistics for 2024

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The week leading up to Black Friday can be full of offers and deal announcements. And it’s not rare that the end of the Thanksgiving dinner turns into browsing in preparation for the next day. 

One of the biggest shopping weekends, the weekend from Thanksgiving Thursday through Cyber Monday requires between 530,000 and 590,000 additional workers to cater to the needs of millions of consumers looking for the best deals.

Here are some Black Friday vs Cyber Monday statistics that might help you make up your mind about when and how to do your shopping.

Fascinating Black Friday vs Cyber Monday Statistics (Editor’s Picks)

  • There were over 174 million US shoppers during the weekend from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday in 2020.
  • Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales in the US amounted to $39 billion in 2020.
  • The total amount of global Black Friday spending in 2019 was $717.5 billion.
  • US shoppers spent a record $9 billion during Black Friday 2020.
  • US shoppers spent $10.84 billion during Cyber Monday 2020.
  • Up to 37% of shoppers say the crowds are the main reason for abandoning brick-and-mortar shops.
  • The loss of potential sales due to items being out of stock online was $484 million in 2018.
  • 83.3 million people in the US shopped online on Cyber Monday 2019, making it the biggest shopping day in US history, shopping stats reveal.
  • Almost one-third of all holiday spending takes place during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend.

The Latest Black Friday Cyber Monday Trends

1. Sales during the 2020 “big five” weekend from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday amounted to $39 billion. 

(Black Friday, Forbes)

Black Friday vs Cyber Monday statistics for 2020 show that Cyber Monday took over from Black Friday as the biggest shopping day of the year, bringing in about $2.4 billion more.

And that’s not all:

Even before the weekend started, 30% of shoppers revealed their plans to do most of their shopping on Cyber Monday. Meanwhile, 24% responded they would be shopping on Black Friday. 

Obviously, this massive swing was due in part to the Coronavirus. However, the trend of the whole weekend merging into one enormous shopping spree had already blurred the lines between individual days. 

So, how do these figures compare to those from the previous year?

Let’s find out:

2. Black Friday statistics for 2019 show the total amount of that weekend’s sales amounted to $28.4 billion. 

(CNN, Black Friday, Forbes)

Additionally, Cyber Monday sales results show Cyber Monday accounted for $9.4 billion

Black Friday vs Cyber Monday statistics for  2018 showed that when it comes to online sales, the frenzy started on Thanksgiving with sales going over $3.7 billion, which represented a 28% growth when the estimated and predicted number was 16.5% year over year.

What’s more:

Black Friday statistics for 2018 report sales worth $6.2 billion, with 23.6% growth. Surprisingly, Cyber Monday stats showed that sales on Saturday and Sunday saw more extensive growth (25% combined) than Cyber Monday 2018 sales, which were predicted to have the most visible growth that year.

3. Ecommerce spending went up 15% year-over-year on Cyber Monday 2020.

(Black Friday)

This rise is slightly lower than that recorded in 2019 when spending went up 19.7% year over year.

Cyber Monday ecommerce spending by year:

  • 2016: $3.45 billion 
  • 2017: $6.59 billion
  • 2018: $7.9 billion 
  • 2019: $9.4 billion 
  • 2020: $10.84 billion

4. Over 174 million Americans shopped between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday in 2020. 

(Forbes, Washington Post) 

How many people shop on Black Friday?

Here’s the scoop:

In 2018, over 165 million people spent the weekend shopping. The number rose to 189.6 million in 2019. In 2020, the total number of shoppers was somewhere between 174 million and 178 million.

You might be wondering:

How much money is spent on Black Friday? 

5. Black Friday 2020 reached a record spending of $9 billion, a 21.6% jump year-over-year.

(Balance, Statista, Pixelee, Money Crashers, ABC News)

This makes it the second-largest shopping day in the United States so far, behind Cyber Monday 2019. The total amount of Black Friday spending worldwide was $717.5 billion in 2019. However, the percentage of people buying on this day is steadily dropping, from 59% in 2015 to 34% in 2019.

Why is that?

Here’s one clue:

The average Black Friday discount is around 45%, with offers going from 20% to 80%. In contrast, the Cyber Monday average discount is about 50%, with deals going from 20% to 90% off.

black friday vs cyber monday statistics

6. Being out of stock during the Black Friday shopping week in 2019 cost retailers $484 million in sales not realized.

(Practical Ecommerce, Big Commerce)

Consumer spending online statistics show there were items consumers were already trying to buy but were out of stock in 3.3% of cases on Thanksgiving. However, the situation on Black Friday looked better, with 2.8%, and even better on Cyber Monday when only 2.4% of products were out of stock when shopping online.

The loss of potential sales due to this was nearly half a billion dollars.

In 2020, however, the pandemic emerged as the number one issue. Before the shopping weekend, around 44% of consumers said they wouldn’t feel comfortable shopping in brick-and-mortar stores until the pandemic subsided. 

Additionally, another 25% said they would be shopping online until vaccinated.

7. Almost one-third of holiday spending occurs during the Flack Friday-Cyber Monday weekend.

(Forbes)

Black Friday sales results in 2018 show that, among the consumers aged 35 to 44, the average spending during this weekend was $413

Now:

This figure is $100 more than spending per person. And compared to the Deloitte prediction that $1536 would be spent on average during the holiday season, it makes for almost one-third of the holiday shopping money. 

8. Shopping in stores dropped by 1.7% on Black Friday 2018 compared to 2017.

(Salesforce, Statista)

Over the entire weekend, a rise in online sales was evident. However, that doesn’t mean physical stores didn’t do well. Crowds still focused on brick-and-mortar, and the average Black Friday spending was highest in the 35 to 44 age group that preferred the live experience.

Up to 37% of shoppers said that the reason for abandoning brick-and-mortar shopping is the fact that stores became too busy and chaotic during the Black Friday sales. And up to 25% claim the deals and price cuts are simply not worth the bother.

9. M-commerce accounted for over 62% of all traffic during the 2018 Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping weekend.

(Forbes, Statista)

Black Friday shopping statistics show that during the start of the month, online shopping was done mainly on desktops (60%), followed by cell phones (30%) and tablets (10%). 

The prediction for the Black Friday shopping weekend was just under 50% in favor of m-commerce. However, the actual results showed that mobile devices were used in 62% of cases. Mobile devices accounted for 61% of Black Friday shopping in 2017.

On Thanksgiving, mobile devices were used for 68% of all online traffic, and 54% of orders were placed via mobile. On Friday, the figure was 67% and 49% for orders. So, both traffic and orders beat the predictions on all days of this shopping weekend in 2018.

More Black Friday vs Cyber Monday Statistics

10. Cyber Monday 2019 was the biggest shopping day in US history up to this point, with 3 billion sales through smartphones alone.

(Statista, ABC News)

When we observe Black Friday online vs Cyber Monday trends, Friday saw sales of $7.4 billion in 2018, while Monday peaked at $7.9 billion.

And it didn’t end there:

Cyber Monday reached $10.84 billion in 2020, making it the biggest shopping day in US history so far, followed by Black Friday 2020.

Cyber Monday 2019 saw $4.64 billion in desktop sales, compared to $3.9 billion in 2018 was. In addition, m-commerce reached $3.26 billion, with an eye-watering 55.4% year-on-year growth.  

11. In preparation for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, social media traffic was up by 41% on Thanksgiving in 2018.

(Salesforce, Forbes, Adobe)

Social media traffic saw growth of 16% on Cyber Monday, but Thanksgiving and preparations for Black Friday made social media traffic grow by a whopping 41%.

Now:

Even if it was predicted that shoppers would use social commerce less than the previous year and revenues per social media visit would be 11% lower, Instagram use rose by a massive 73%. In addition, Pinterest saw a growth rate of 45%, with people looking for deals for tomorrow’s shopping.

12. Retailers sent half a billion more emails on Black Friday 2018 than in 2017.

(Forbes, Sprout Social)

Black Friday sales statistics show there were 3.5 billion emails sent out on Black Friday compared to Cyber Monday results of 4.1 billion. Looking at the previous year, it’s an increase of around half a billion emails when Friday saw 3 million and Monday 3.3 billion. 

So, marketers clearly saw these two days as the best time to send an email.

Looking at the number of received messages on social media, the companies report receiving 92% more messages in the holiday months than the rest of the year.

13. The only shopping day to surpass Black Friday and Cyber Monday was Alibaba’s Singles Day. 

(Practical Ecommerce, CNBC)

The biggest shopping event with sales going higher than anyone expected was November 11, the Singles Day done by Alibaba, brought in an astonishing $4.68 billion during the first ten minutes of trade, went over $6.5 billion after 20 minutes of shopping, and eventually made a mind-blowing $30.8 billion.

But wait! There’s more:

In 2020, Alibaba reported that 250,000 brands participated in Singles Day. Interestingly, as many as 31,000 were overseas, with the US emerging as a leader in selling to China. In fact, US brands are responsible for over $5 billion of Alibaba’s total $74.1 billion Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).

14. All shopping days saw a significant rise from 2018 to 2020.

(Business Insider, CNBC)

A comparison of major shopping days and Black Friday statistics by year look like this: 

The biggest shopping day in 2018 by far was Singles Day ($30.8 billion), followed by Cyber Monday ($7.9 billion) and Black Friday ($6.22 billion).

All in all, this represented 27% growth from the year before for Singles Day, 19.3% for Cyber Monday, and 23% for Black Friday. Somewhat surprisingly, Thanksgiving enjoyed the most significant rise of all – 28%.

But that’s not all:

In 2020, Alibaba Singles Day skyrocketed to $115 billion.

15. Average spending is slightly bigger on Black Friday, at $472.

(Black Friday)

Many shoppers spending less than $400, but the average spending on Friday was $472, compared to $415 on Cyber Monday.

Perhaps surprisingly:

Men are 10% more likely than women to spend over $1200 on Black Friday.19+ Awesome Black Friday vs Cyber Monday Statistics for 2021 Click To Tweet

The trend doesn’t change on Cyber Monday when they are 6% more likely to do the same.

On average, people spent $20 less than the year before, Black Friday statistics for 2017 reveal.

16. The bulk of holiday shopping is done during the Black Friday shopping week.

(Black Friday, Statista)

Looking at how people distribute their holiday shopping, Black Friday seems to be their favorite. Over 31% and, by some accounts, 40% of holiday shopping will be done on Black Friday. 

Cyber Monday follows with 22%, and in third place, we have the day starting off that week, Thanksgiving, with 15% of all shopping being done on Thursday leading up to the shopping weekend.

Next:

Small Business Saturday takes a share of 11% of holiday sales, and last-minute purchases done on Christmas Eve amount to 9% of the sales.

The predictions dropped drastically looking at 2019 when only 6% of people planned to do holiday shopping on Black Friday, especially compared to 2015 when that number stood at 60%, Black Friday vs Cyber Monday statistics confirm.

17. For 29% of people, Amazon is the go-to destination when looking for Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals.

(Black Friday, Statista, Amazon)

Most respondents to shopping surveys say they will find the best deals on Amazon, a full 29% in fact. The second place goes to Walmart, with 25% of people thinking they will be the ones to offer the best deals on Black Friday.

Target, Best Buy, and Kohls follow with 15%, 14%, and 11%, respectively. Finally, Black Friday stats show 6% of shoppers think JCPenny will have the best deals.

And that’s not all:

Up to 24% of shoppers say they will always check the deals on Amazon before trying anywhere else, and 35% say they will do so sometimes. Around 41% say they will look for other deals first.

Amazon Black Friday sales figures seem to be kept vague. In any event, they are topped by Amazon Prime Day sales, which amounted to $7.6 billion in 2019. In 2020, in the two weeks leading up to Prime Day, consumers generated more than $900 million in sales for small businesses.

UK Black Friday vs Cyber Monday 2020

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday both began as distinctly American phenomena, they quickly became immensely popular globally. So, we decided to have a quick look across the pond to see how UK trends compare with US ones.

18. Black Friday sales numbers show that the expected average spending on Black Friday in the United Kingdom was £316 in 2020.

(PWC)

This actually represented a slight rise from £293 in 2019. When broken down by region, the figures looked like this:

  • North West £445
  • Wales £222
  • Yorkshire and Humber £220
  • £207 in the South West

In 2020, men were more interested in electricals and technology. They intended to spend around £373, while women set their budget at a more modest £244. The high spenders are those aged 35 to 44, with average spending of £429. This is more than twice as much as the seniors’ budget of £201.

19. Black Friday vs Cyber Monday Statistics reveal only around 38% of UK shoppers planned to shop on Black Friday on the eve of the second lockdown in 2020.

(PWC)

With the second lockdown of the year just announced in England and Wales in the lead-up to the big shopping weekend of the year, interest in Black Friday shopping plummeted from 51% to 38%.

Here’s the thing:

The biggest dip could be seen in the age group of 18 to 25-year-olds whose interest dropped from 82% to 44%, while the interest of those aged 35 to 44 went from 62% to 52%. For seniors over 65, the percentage went down from 26% to 20%. Even so, the UK saw an incredible 146% growth in sales over the long weekend.

20. Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the UK in 2018 saw almost 5 million visits to Amazon UK, with over 4 million transactions.

(Statista, The Sun)

Ultimately, whether you’ll do your shopping on Friday or Monday in the UK depends on what deal you’re looking for. Those buying tech could find 85% more data storage deals on Black Friday, with some products, such as those from Apple, only being off that day.

But one of the interesting facts about Cyber Monday is that if you’re buying clothes, Monday has 45% more discounts than Friday. And when it comes to shoes, the percentage is even higher, 50%, with beauty products seeing the same Cyber Monday sales statistics as shoes.

In Conclusion

Even if more and more people are turning to online shopping, Black Friday vs Cyber Monday statistics reveal 84.2 million people in the US went to a brick-and-mortar store in 2019

What’s more:

As many as 37.8 million opted for an early start. 

Overall, over the four-day weekend, 189.6 million people made a purchase in 2019. In 2020, that number was 174 million. But from the previous years, we can see that the attention has visibly shifted towards Cyber Monday, especially with the blending of the long weekend.

Bottom line:

When deciding whether to choose Cyber Monday or Black Friday, consumers are increasingly tired of crowds and rely on mobile devices. And if that’s not all, the COVID-19 has forced most consumers to avoid brick-and-mortar stores as much as possible. So, retailers are following that trend. And with more and more deals being tailored to Cyber Monday, it’s quite easy to save money shopping online

cyber monday statistics sign

FAQ

Q: Are Cyber Monday deals the same as Black Friday?

In recent years, the old trend of Black Friday as the ultimate shopping day has changed. Due to the crowded stores and the hassle, many people are abandoning the day as their shopping choice and turning to Cyber Monday instead. So, the different deals offered on the two days can vary considerably. Still, the effects of the Coronavirus year are visible, as there is an emerging tendency for the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday to become one extended shopping weekend in the future.

Q: Is it worth waiting for Cyber Monday?

It is definitely worth waiting for Cyber Monday, not only because most deals are better, with savings around 21% on Cyber Monday and 18.5% on Black Friday. It’s also reported that a higher number of editor’s choice items and deals could be found on Cyber Monday. Not to mention the crowds that you’ll avoid doing your shopping online on Monday.

Q: How many people shopped on Cyber Monday?

In 2019, over 189.6 million people shopped over the Thanksgiving Thursday to Cyber Monday shopping weekend. And out of those, 83.3 million people did their shopping online on Cyber Monday. In 2020, 174 million people shopped during the weekend, pushing Cyber Monday sales over $10.84 billion.

Q: Are Amazon deals better on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Amazon deals are generally better on Cyber Monday for Prime members, Black Friday vs Cyber Monday statistics reveal. In contrast, Walmart and Best Buy have better deals on Black Friday. Amazon does have week-long discounts leading up to Black Friday, and it largely depends on the type of items you buy. Tech deals are better on Black Friday, while shopping for clothes and shoes should be left for Monday.

Sources: