5 Learnings from Thanksgiving Weekend 2022 Consumer Spending Reports

Fohr

Haley Thorpe

November 29, 2022

Updated Feb 09, 2024

The consumer spending results are in, and we've recapped them for you. The largest shopping weekend of the year has officially wrapped up, and our bank accounts can breathe a small sigh of relief.

Why are we interested in consumer shopping data as an ambassador marketing company? Because the more consumers spend, the more brands want to advertise to consumers, and the more money gets put into creators’ wallets. We like the sound of that.

We pulled together some external research on how consumers spent for Black Friday, Thanksgiving Day, and Cyber Monday and what we can take away. Here are five things we learned.

Inflation and a recession have consumers seeking more discounts.

Roughly three-quarters (72%) of McKinsey’s US Holiday Shopping 2022 survey respondents anticipated paying more for gifts this year, reporting they planned to keep an eye out for more opportunities to save.

44% said they are “seeking” sales or coupons
43% said they’d shop at a different retailer if they offered a lower price

In response, brands offered steep discounts to get consumers to spend and started pushing deals even earlier. According to McKinsey, retailers also focused on membership benefits and customer loyalty programs.

Toy discounts peaked at 31.8%
Electronics discounts peaked at 23.4%
Apparel discounts peaked at 13.8%

Brands are feeling the heat. According to our Fohr 2022 Holiday Report, 77% of brands said they increased their influencer marketing budget this year due to pressure to sell more products.

Still, consumer spending is higher than ever.

Despite a year of inflation, Black Friday and Thanksgiving spending are higher than ever, and many consumers report eagerness to spend and splurge. This year, experts think a big part of that growth comes from inflation. Since October 1st, consumers have spent over $168B on holiday shopping. According to the Adobe Holiday Shopping Report, there has been $210.1B in revenue this season.

More than half (55%) of respondents said they’re “excited about holiday shopping,” and 56% had already begun shopping as of October.
Excitement is highest among those with annual incomes over $100,000.
Gen Zers and millennials are more hyped about holiday shopping than their older counterparts.

Cyber Monday yielded the highest amount of revenue

On Black Friday alone, consumers spent $9.12B. Consumers also spent $5.29B on Thanksgiving Day; the highest peak was $11.3B on Cyber Monday (11/28).
Black Friday (11/25) retail sales were up +12% year over year, and in-store sales increased +12% year over year.
On Black Friday, restaurant spending was up 21%, apparel spending was up 19%, and electronics spending was up 4%.

Meet hybrid shopping—consumers shopped in-person, online, and via mobile.

Just like we’ve seen hybrid and remote work easing lines at the airport on Thanksgiving weekend, it also helped with the cashier lines in brick-and-mortar stores. Customers have been shopping in-person and online from October 1st - November 28th.

In-Store:

Visits to physical stores on Black Friday rose 2.9% year over year
Visits to physical stores on Thanksgiving Day increased by 19.7% year over year

Desktop:

55.6% of e-commerce spending happened on a desktop or tablet device
Desktop Black Friday sales had a 5.6% conversion rate
Desktop Cyber Monday sales had a 6.9% conversion rate

Mobile:

44.6% of e-commerce spending happened on a mobile device
Mobile Black Friday sales had a 3.3% conversion rate
Mobile Cyber Monday sales had a 3.6% conversion rate

Consumers may become more and more comfortable with mobile shopping. According to our Fohr 2022 Holiday Report, Gen Z, particularly, is using Instagram and TikTok for search and discovery rather than Google products like Maps and Search.

Most consumers bought tech products this weekend.

Top Black Friday items included a lot of technology: Xbox Series X, Bluey, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Drones, and Macbooks.
Cyber Monday saw similar results, plus more toys and games: Legos, Playstation 5, Hot Wheels, Madden 23, and smartwatches.

The influencer marketing takeaways

As brands begin to push their holiday discounts and shopping windows earlier and earlier, we’ll continue to see an impact on influencer campaign timelines. 17% of brands stated in our Fohr 2022 Holiday Report that they planned holiday campaigns 4-6 months or more in advance.
With such a crowded advertising market, it’s more important than ever to push for longer-term partnerships to talk about products year-round, so the consumer consideration phase is even shorter when a discount or sale comes about.
The results show that consumers shop on mobile, desktop, and in-store. Influencers help promote brand awareness and positive brand affinity, impacting in-store purchasing decisions as much as mobile purchases.

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