Online Shopping Was Big on Small Business Saturday

Everyone knows that online shopping has become a major component of holiday shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in recent years, but it is also a huge part of Small Business Saturday these days.

Small Business Saturday on November 30 reached a record $3.6 billion in online sales, according to data released by Adobe Analytics. That’s up 18 percent over last year. For November, there was a 14.9 percent increase in online sales.

It should come as no surprise that many Small Business Saturday sales were made via smartphone. Adobe’s data indicates that there was a 20 percent increase over last year in these sales in particular. Smartphones, Adobe says, drove 54 percent of retail site visits, a 19 percent increase from last year. Meanwhile, retailers are becoming more successful in "closing the mobile commerce gap," as smartphones accounted for 36.1 percent of online sales in November, up over 24 percent year-over-year.

Adobe also found that businesses with less than $50 million a year in revenue experienced double the revenue of an average November day on Small Business Saturday.

"Online shopping has benefited from a few unexpected boosts this year," Adobe said on its Magento Commerce Blog. "First, the shorter timeframe between Cyber Monday and Christmas has seen many retailers launching promotions sooner than usual. Second, as large areas of the country faced snowstorms and heavy rain, many consumers opted to stay home to find the best deals online. Overall, retailers are seeing returns on their omnichannel and mobile shopping investments."

Adobe notes that BOPIS (buy online; pick up in store) and curbside pick-up services saw 43 percent growth year over year throughout the month of November, and that such services have been "breathing new life" into brick and mortar stores. This type of service is also leading to customers making additional purchases once they go to pick up their online orders.

Paid search drove 24.4 percent of online sales during November, up 5.2 percent year-over-year, according to Adobe. Just below that was direct traffic at 21.2 percent, which is actually down .6 percent year-over-year. Natural search drove 18.8 percent of sales, and that was also down 5.9 percent year-over-year. Email was actually up 8.9 percent, driving 16.8 percent of online sales. Social media only accounted for a 2.6 percent share of online sales, though as a driver of visits, it was up 17.5 percent year-over-year at 8 percent.

It’s clear that online shopping is becoming just as big a part of small business shopping as it is for the larger companies. Take this into consideration as you prepare not only for next year’s holiday shopping season, but as you look to attract customers all year long.