Digital sales across Cyber Week for Canadian retailers reached $5.1 billion: Salesforce

The results are in and Cyber Week turned out to be a good one for Canadian retailers, says Salesforce.

According to Salesforce, digital sales across Cyber Week reached $5.1 billion for Canadian retailers.

“No doubt this has been a more challenging time for Canadian retailers than previous years. The combination of post strikes and fewer compelling discounts seems to have dampened Canadian shoppers’ Cyber Week enthusiasm. But there are reasons for businesses to be cheerful. Despite a slow Cyber Week, Canada’s overall holiday sales is up by 3% on last year and retailers saw a steady increase in digital traffic in the weeks leading up to Black Friday. Savvy shoppers likely started their holiday buying early to avoid delivery issues and didn’t need to make their main purchases during Cyber Week,” said Caila Schwartz, Director of Consumer Insights, Salesforce.

Here’s some key data points from Salesforce on the recent holiday spending period:

• Digital sales reached $76 billion in the United States (up 7% YoY) and $314.9 billion globally (up 6% YoY).

• The Black Friday online sales estimate for Canada is $309M CAD 

• Globally online sales reached $74.4 billion (up 5% YoY) and $17.5 billion (up 7% YoY) in the United States. 
• Global online sales reached $12.8 billion in the United States (up 3% YoY) and $49.7 billion globally (up 2% YoY).
• The Canadian average discount rate during Cyber Week was 22% (down 7% YoY).
• In contrast, the global average discount rate was 26% and the U.S. discount rate was 28%, both down 1% YoY.
• The Average Order Value in Canada increased ever so slightly to $102 CAD up from $101 CAD last year.

Additional Global Findings from Salesforce:

• AI and agents play a big part in Cyber Week: Retailers doubled down on the use of AI, including agents, to power shopping experiences this season.

• $60 billion of global online sales were influenced by AI and agents for product recommendations, targeted offers, and conversational customer service support.
• Retailers used generative AI and agents 18% more during Cyber Week than the previous week, likely to drive efficiency and personalization for customers.
• Mobile conversion picks up the pace: As consumers of all ages grow increasingly comfortable with mobile shopping and the mobile buying experience gets easier, the gap between mobile traffic and mobile orders is narrowing. This trend underscores a growing consumer willingness to make significant and high-value purchases directly from their smartphones.

• More than 80% of both U.S. and global ecommerce traffic originated from a mobile device during Cyber Week
• Exactly as predicted, mobile orders drove 70% of U.S. and global sales, up from 67% in 2023.
• In total, mobile accounted for $220 billion in sales globally and $53.3 billion in the United States.
• Mobile wallet usage also increased 16% globally during the week.
• Social commerce plays critical role for retailers
• Retailers implementing social commerce strategies saw 19% of their Cyber Week sales generated through platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram.
• Mixed bag of discounts drove mixed bag of results: Despite the threat of growing consumer appeal and low prices offered by Chinese marketplaces like Temu, Shein, and AliExpress, Western retailers did not offer significant discounts to compete.
• Verticals with the highest global average discount rates included: Makeup (40%), General apparel (34%), Skincare (33%)
• Verticals with the highest U.S. average discount rates included: General apparel (37%), Health and beauty (35%), Home appliance, decor, and furniture (23%)

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