• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, November 25, 2022

Update: Black Friday online sales totaled $8 billion in the U.S, and $40 billion globally, Salesforce reports. Buy Online Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) sales were 20% higher on Black Friday compared to all other days this season. 

For Black Friday, the most discounted verticals globally are: 

• Home Appliances--38%
• General Apparel--33%
• Health and Beauty--31%
• Luxury Handbags--27%

The most popular categories on Black Friday globally were:

• Electronics and Accessories--Up 19%
• Active Apparel and Footwear--Up 9%
• Health and Beauty--Up 6%

People finished their Thanksgiving meals and then went online to shop, enjoying average discount rates of 31%, judging by new data from Salesforce. 

Sales spiked between 6 p.m. EST and 10 PM EST, with 78% of traffic coming through mobile phones, Salesforce reports. Total online sales for the day rose by 9% in the U.S. YoY to $7.5 billion -- higher than the initial Salesforce projection of $7.1 billion.  Globally, sales grew by 1% to $31 billion. 

(Adobe reports a different Thanksgiving Day number -- $5.29 billion, up 2.9% YoY).

According to Salesforce, email generated an open rate of 18% on Thursday, a 0.7% click rate and 0.02% unsubscribe rate.

The metrics were similar on Tuesday and Wednesday, except that opens totaled 19% on both days. Email sends jumped by 7% during the period. 

Online sales rose 3% YoY in the U.S. during the earlier part of the week. The average order value was: $120.

The best-performing verticals on Thanksgiving were:

• Electronics and Accessories--Up 26% YoY
• Active Apparel and Footwear--17% 
• Toys and Learning--10% 

• Home Appliances = 41%
• General Apparel = 34%
• Makeup = 32%
• Luxury Handbags = 30%

• The average order value for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) transactions decreased in the US by 6% on Thanksgiving — shoppers financed more lower-priced goods than previous years.

Meanwhile, the average order value for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) transactions slipped by 6% in the U.S. as shoppers financed lower-priced goods than prior years. 

The average selling price (ASP) rose by 3% over 2021 and 16% over 2020 in the earlier part of the week. Mobile accounted for 74% of all global traffic, a 5% increase over 2021. 

Prior to Cyber Week, online sales were up 7% in the U.S. and traffic by the same percentage. Online discounts averaged 23%, a hike of 15% YoY. 

“After lackluster deals earlier in the season, retailers have now stepped up their discount game to pre-pandemic levels,” says Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail at Salesforce.

Garf adds: “Consumers responded by browsing and buying online this Thanksgiving, with Buy Now Pay Later options winning over many consumers on the fence, even on lower-priced goods as the pressure of inflation persists.”

Salesforce analyzed shopping data from more than one billion consumers on Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud, covering 24 of the top 30 U.S. online retailers.

This story will be updated later in the day on Black Friday, November 25.