Walmart, Amazon holiday spending rise as Target, Best Buy stumble – data

By Siddharth Cavale

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and fast-growing e-commerce sites Shein and PDD Holding’s Temu saw record-breaking sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to spending data, suggesting that they may finish the holiday season on a much stronger note than Target (NYSE:TGT) and Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), which struggled.

Holiday shoppers largely browsed at brick-and-mortar stores, making more online purchases at some retailers, snapping up such items as pre-owned Rolex watches, Pokemon cards and singer Sabrina Carpenter’s perfumes at Walmart, and Fire TV streaming devices and Shark vacuums at Amazon during the deal-heavy week, which at Amazon began on Nov. 21, according to company statements.

Americans spent roughly $10.8 billion online on Black Friday this year, up 10.2% from the previous year, then followed that up by spending $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, 7.3% more compared to Cyber Monday in 2023, according to Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE).

Among major retailers, Amazon saw the strongest growth on Black Friday, with sales rising 6% compared to Black Friday a year earlier, according to data firm Facteus, which tracks online and in-store spending in the United States analyzing data from banks, credit unions, payment processors, and fintech companies. Its figures are not inflation adjusted.

Rival Walmart saw 3% more spending compared to the year-earlier period, while big-box chain Target and consumer electronics chain Best Buy saw declines versus a year earlier, Facteus said.

Among top performers on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, were low-cost China rivals Temu and Shein, clocking double-digit percentage growth sales, albeit from a lower sales base, Facteus said.

Similarly, on Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving, Amazon, Walmart, Temu and privately held Shein saw an increase in sales compared to Cyber Monday 2023, while Best Buy’s declined versus a year earlier. Target saw a modest increase.

At Target, the muted sales performance came despite exclusive merchandise partnerships with singer Taylor Swift and the Broadway show turned Hollywood movie, “Wicked,” which were expected to give it a boost.

According to research firm Circana, Target’s exclusively available Taylor Swift “Eras Tour Book” sold 814,000 print units in just two days of launch, making it the second-highest adult non-fiction release behind Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land.”

At Best Buy, which has struggled due to shoppers pulling back on items like TVs and laptops, sales were 2% lower on Black Friday and 4% lower on Cyber Monday compared to the year-ago periods. Still, its shares are up 2% since Thanksgiving on Nov. 28, suggesting that investors expect a better performance ahead.

During the same seven-day period Walmart and Amazon’s shares have risen between 3% and 7%, while Target’s and PDD’s have stayed flat.

Walmart offered four times as many deals between Black Friday and Cyber Monday on its Walmart.com marketplace, resulting in its highest single sales day ever between Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, the company said in a blog post.

While the retailer did not specify which day was its sales peak, it said top products included pre-owned Rolex watches, refurbished Dyson vacuums, Pokemon cards, vintage LEGO items, and beauty products from T3, BabylissPRO, Paul Mitchell, and Victoria’s Secret. Singer Sabrina Carpenter’s Sweet Tooth was the most coveted fragrance, it said.

Amazon said that the 12-day shopping period ending on Cyber Monday resulted in record sales compared to the same period in prior years, which Facteus confirmed.

Top sellers included Medicube devices, FireTV sticks, Samsung (KS:005930) TVs, Barbie, Play-Doh, Shark vacuums and air purifiers. Shoppers bought a record number of items, generating its highest-ever sales during a 12-day period.

Temu generated $53.3 million in sales on Black Friday and $55.1 million on Cyber Monday, which were both records, Facteus said.

Temu told Reuters in an email that toys, especially kids’ instruments and cameras, were popular.

Similarly, Shein, also hit new highs, with sales of $34.2 million on Black Friday and $38.9 million on Cyber Monday, the data firm said.