Cyber week sees sales increase by nearly 8%

Overall Cyber Week sales up 8%

The holiday shopping season is off to an auspicious start. According to Adobe Analytics, consumers saw ample opportunity to spend over the so-called Cyber Week, totaling roughly $38 billion in online spending over the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. This represents a 7.8% increase over last year, with Cyber Monday sales specifically growing by 9.6% to a total of $12.4 billion. Consumers were clearly attracted by discounts, which totaled as much as 31% on average in electronics, 23% in apparel, and 15% in sporting goods.

_{Source: Adobe Analytics, JLL Research}

Sales during the Cyber Week were also bolstered by the growing presence of Buy Now Pay Later options, with usage of these platforms contributing an all-time high $940 million to online spend – a 42.5% increase YoY. The flexibility provided by these payments plans as well as the growing number of players in the space had a tangible impact on spending during this period, which bodes well for the upcoming holidays, especially as inflationary concerns gradually recede.

Urban retail benefits from rebounds in domestic and international tourism

_{Source: Placer.ai, JLL Research}

As we inch closer to the end of 2023, a retrospective look reveals it was a pretty positive year for retail, which is best evidenced by the state of urban retail across the country. In our recently released City Retail report, JLL Research looked at the major prime retail corridors across the U.S. and Canada to understand how they’ve fared in an economic environment marked by high interest rates and high inflation. 

_{Source: International Trade Administration, JLL Research}

Here were some key takeaways:
 

• Consumer spending growth and the return of international tourism drove prime urban retail demand, encouraging full foot traffic recovery in half of the prime corridors tracked. So far this year, international visitors to the US have spent a combined $156 billion as of September (a 31.6% increase over last year).

• Apparel retailers dominated prime corridor leasing this year, accounting for nearly half (48%) of all leasing activity. Athleisure tenants like Lululemon, Vuori and Hoka were among the most active players.

• Luxury retailers like Bottega Veneta, Burberry, and Van Cleef & Arpels remain active in prime urban retail leasing, with almost every corridor recording strong absorption from luxury apparel and jewelry brands, as well as a notable uptick in leasing from luxury boutiques.

• Steadily increasing office attendance and a return to pre-pandemic hotel occupancy levels provide green shoots from other property sectors that will positively impact urban retail performance in the near term.