Online retail sales continues to attract consumers, rising to fresh all-time highs as the convenience of ordering merchandise on your phone gains popularity. Holiday sales jumped into full gear on the US Thanksgiving holiday and continued to accelerate through Cyber Monday. Fast payment processing has help facilitate the rise in cyber sales. Access to credit and debit cards through mobile applications has changed the trajectory of online sales.
Cyber Monday Sees Record Online Sales
Cyber Monday, followed up Thanksgiving and Black Friday with record sales, according to a report released by Adobe Analytics. According to the report consumers spent a record $9.4 billion online, up 19.7% year over year. The results were in line with expectations, with shoppers spending nearly $2.9-million online 60% of the total revenue produced, between the hours of 10 pm and 2am ET. The value of products also increased. The average checkout price per customer during the Cyber Monday shopping day increased 6% year over year according to Adobe Analytics. Large retailers with more than $1 billion in annual sales experienced a 540% increase compared to the average daily volume according to Adobe Analytic. Smaller retailers with less than $50 million in yearly sales also benefited from the shopping holiday, seeing a 337% increase. For the holiday season, Adobe is forecasting that sales will rise to $144 billion.
The surge in Cyber Monday sales followed record online sales during Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Online shopping on Black Friday hit a record of $5.4 billion, up 22.3% year over year according to Adobe Analytics.
Sprint Overcharges
The crackdown on telecommunication continued this week as Sprint Corp admitted that for years overestimated how many of the low-income Americans it provides wireless service to through a federal subsidy program, according to the financial news and techanalysis of the Wall Street Journal. Sprint facing a potential settlement with the Federal Communications Commission after the regulator in September said Sprint improperly collected millions in federal subsidies for 885,000 customers who weren’t using the service. FCC Chairman in September had the enforcement bureau investigate the full extent of Sprint’s Lifeline problem.
Semi-conductors Drop on Trade Concerns
Semi-conductor stocks were hammered in early December as President Trump announced that there might not be a trade deal until after the election in 2020. The president’s comments injected fresh uncertainty over the future of a phase-one trade deal between the US and China. This comes ahead of the administration’s plans to impose additional tariffs on other products from China on December 15. During a NATO meeting in Europe for the two-day gathering, Mr. Trump also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for comments he made about NATO and expressed frustration with France’s new digital-services tax. The President is planning on using tariffs to counter this new digital tax, which should increase the price of wine and cheese coming from France to the United States.
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