Global festive shopping demand drops in December - ESW report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 23, 2023

Along with all the Black Friday-Cyber Monday predictions (that are coming thick and fast), it’s easy to forget that the festive shopping season also continues beyond the BFCM period. Remember December?

The month that used to be key for festive season sales seems to have become an also-ran — for some shoppers at least — a new report from ESW shows.

Some 64% of global shoppers will shop in November as Singles Day (11.11) and Black Friday (24.11) capture the majority of consumer spend with just 23% intending to purchase in December, the direct-to-consumer e-commerce company said. 

For its Global Voices Research it spoke to more than 18,000 consumers across 18 countries and found that most shoppers in China (75%), India (60%), the UK (58%), Mexico (53%) and the US (51%) will shop before Black Friday. 

There’s some good news for fashion and beauty across the season as a whole. Globally, the most popular categories for gifting in 2023 are apparel (40%), fragrance and cosmetics (37%) and toys and games (34%). Gen Z and Millennials plan to spend on apparel (38% and 43%, respectively), fragrance and cosmetics (37% and 44%) and accessories (36% and 38%). 

Back with those figures about consumers shopping pre-Black Friday, they highlight the growing popularity and power of Singles Day (with sales starting on 31 October and running to 11 November), and with gross merchandise volume (GMV) estimated to have reached $156.4 billion this year. 

This, along with Amazon Prime’s Early Access Sale taking place in mid-October and perhaps the trend for retailers to launch Black Friday deals several weeks ahead of the big day, “is pulling the ‘Peak’ shopping season forward for shoppers seeking out gift deals, we’re told”. 

Black Friday, which generated $65.3 billion in 2022, remains the most popular holiday shopping event in Brazil for 40% of shoppers, South Africa and Italy (both 39%). However, it’s now the least popular holiday shopping day in China where Singles Day originated (3%), India (7%) and Argentina (10%), with overall global demand dropping dramatically to just 2% for Cyber Monday deals before climbing again to 23% for the month of December.

Globally, 43% of respondents in ESW’s study plan to spend the same amount for the 2023 holiday season as last year, with 30% spending less and 27% spending more year-on-year.  

By market, a greater number of shoppers in India (60%), UAE (49%) and China (42%) will spend more. Meanwhile, those spending less will be highest in France and Germany (both 40%), Australia (38%) and Canada (37%). report the highest number of shoppers intending to spend less.