During 2021’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, Shopify merchants collectively generated $6.3 billion USD in sales worldwide, according to data released by the e-commerce company.
This figure tops the total amount of sales generated by Shopify merchants on the same weekend in 2020, an increase of 23 percent compared to last year’s $5.1 billion amount. It is also more than double the $2.9 billion in total sales reported by Shopify merchants during Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend in 2019.
“We call Black Friday / Cyber Monday the Super Bowl of commerce, and this year’s was the biggest yet.”
-Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify
For Shopify, which has capitalized on the pandemic-fuelled shift to e-commerce, these record-setting Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend sales indicate that the retail giant continues to benefit from shifting consumer spending habits during COVID-19.
“We call Black Friday / Cyber Monday the Super Bowl of commerce, and this year’s was the biggest yet,” said Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, adding that these sales “showcase the monumental impact that independent businesses have on the global economy.”
Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend is traditionally one of the highest-volume shopping events of the year. According to Shopify, deals began “earlier than ever this year as brands and shoppers got ahead of shipping and supply chain delays”—daily total sales increased 28 days before Cyber Monday, versus 19 days in 2020.
In total, 47 million consumers made purchases from independent and direct-to-consumer brands selling on Shopify.
The highest shopping moment took place on Friday November 26 at 12:02 pm EST, which saw peak sales of over $3.1 million per minute.
Consumers in Canada, Australia, and the United States spent the most per order on average.
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The top-selling cities shoppers made purchases from over the shopping weekend were London, New York, and Los Angeles, while the United States (US), United Kingdom, and Canada were amongst the top-selling countries worldwide.
In Canada, the top selling cities were Toronto, Calgary, and Montréal, with apparel and accessories coming in as the country’s top product category. Canada also saw a 94 percent increase in point-of-sale (POS) sales made by Shopify merchants compared to last year.
Shopify’s sales data also provided some evidence of the growth of social commerce, as sales generated by social integrations during Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend nearly tripled year-over-year.
Like Shopify, Amazon claimed it saw record-breaking sales over the course of the weekend, but the company did not disclose its sales figures. The growth Shopify saw during the shopping weekend came as the US saw an overall decrease in online sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as consumers spent $8.9 billion and $10.7 billion on each day, respectively.
Feature image from Shopify