Online sales exceed $1.14 trillion during 2022 holiday season

Consumers spent $1.14 trillion online globally and $270 billion in the US during the 2022 holiday season. While online sales in November 2022 were lower than in 2021 and 2020, Cyber Week deals and Buy Online and Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) offerings helped retailers drive success in 2022.

For perspective, retailers who offered the BOPIS option during December 15-24 sold 7X more than those who didn’t during this period. Nearly one out of every five online orders placed globally this holiday season were via BOPIS. And BOPIS adoption by consumers peaked at 35% of all orders on the Friday before the Christmas holiday as shoppers retrieved last minute gifts.

On the other hand, there was a 63% spike in returns year over year. These numbers spiked in the six days after Christmas, with 16% of orders returned over that week, a 5% increase over last year.

Retailers managed to grab shoppers’ attention with discounts in the runup to Christmas. After lacklustre deals early in the season, retailers increased discounts. In the end, shoppers saw better deals than the 2021 holiday season, a 21% average discount compared to 19% the year prior. Top discount categories included beauty, skincare and makeup with an average discount of 29%. General apparel and handbags were the next most discounted categories at 27%.

Meanwhile, social media referrals hit an all-time high driving 12% of all mobile traffic (+23% YoY). Belgium, Italy and the US represented the countries with the most social media-minded shoppers.  While shoppers are adept at finding the products they want through all forms of commerce, social media proved to be a growing favourite in 2022.

Insights by Salesforce