U.S. shoppers' online spending jumped 5% during the holiday season, helped by record levels of discounts and deferred payment options, Adobe Analytics said Thursday. The data appears to be of little help to stocks of e-commerce companies, including Amazon shares.
X
Consumers spent $222.1 billion online from November 1 to December 31, up 4.9% from the same period in 2022, according to Adobe Analytics. In 2022, online spending grew by 3.5%. Shoppers spent $123.5 billion during the month of November, an increase of 6% over the same period in 2022, and $98.6 billion in December, an increase of 3.7%.
In today's stock market, e-commerce stocks are down. Amazon (Amzn) The stock fell by 2.6% to close at 144.57. Etsy (Etsy) decreased by 3.6% to close at 76.29, while shares declined eBay (eBay) lost 2.3% to close at 42.53. On the other side, Shopify (Shop) rose by 2.2% to close at 73.42.
Perhaps overshadowed by the positive data for some e-commerce stocks: Bloomberg TikTok aims to grow its US e-commerce business “tenfold” this year, posing a challenge to Amazon, it said on Thursday.
Discounts, buy now, pay later
Adobe's report said that for the holiday shopping season, discounts were stronger for 2023 across most major categories. The report said electronics discounts peaked at 31% of listed prices, compared to 25% in 2022. Clothing items were also discounted by up to 24%, compared to discounts of 19% in 2022.
Meanwhile, the growing payments trend also known as BNPL, buy now, pay later, has reached a record high of $16.6 billion, up from 14% last year, Adobe's report said.
“In an uncertain demand environment, retailers have relied on flexible discounting and payment methods to entice shoppers this holiday season,” Vivek Pandya, principal analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in the report.
BNPL provider shares Confirms (AFRM) rose 12% in late November, after preliminary Black Friday sales data from Adobe showed BNPL usage rising. But AFRM stock fell 2.3% to close at 42.50 on Thursday.
Amazon Stock: Slow Start Through 2024
Meanwhile, the new numbers did not help Amazon shares get off to a slow start in the new year. AMZN stock lost 1.3% on Tuesday and another 1% on Wednesday.
For Amazon, on Thursday Bloomberg A report that TikTok is looking to rapidly expand its US e-commerce business could weigh on the stock.
TikTok, which is owned by private Chinese company ByteDance, hopes to reach $17.5 billion in sales in the United States this year, Bloomberg reported. TikTok will also compete with Chinese online retailers Temu and Shein. The rapid growth of Chinese e-commerce apps in the United States has caught the attention of some Amazon stock analysts. TikTok, in particular, already has a broad social media user base in the US to help boost sales.
Amazon stock's recent decline has pushed it below its previous buy point of 145.86, according to IBD. Marquette Smith.
Amazon described the start of holiday shopping after Thanksgiving as “The biggest ever“But the company did not disclose the exact numbers. This data will not be available until the company releases Q4 numbers either late this month or early February.
Adobe Analytics numbers show overall online spending has accelerated this year compared to last. But the growth rate is still far behind An eye-catching 32% year-on-year increase Online holiday spending soars in 2020, driven by the coronavirus emergency.
You may also like:
Are Amazon shares buyable now?
The 7 Great Stocks: Latest News and Market Cap Weights
IBD Live: A new tool for daily stock market analysis
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”