Amazon’s grip on the online shopping industry appears to be tightening. A new survey of Black Friday shoppers from PYMNTS showed the Seattle retailing giant dominated its rivals in the traditional post-Thanksgiving holiday season kickoff.
According to a Black Friday survey from PYMNTS, 75 percent of respondents said they went to Amazon in search of deals last Friday compared to the 43 percent who clicked on Walmart.com and the 33 percent who said they shopped at Target.com. The metric could be especially telling when Amazon reports its Q4 earnings as well as show continuing momentum for Amazon. The eCommerce giant stacked Prime Day and a series of Black Friday events into October and November as it reacted to the pandemic’s calendar dynamics and the shift to a digital-first economy.
When PYMNTS last measured Amazon’s take of the total eCommerce business it found that it touched just north of 50 percent for Q1 2020 in eCommerce market share (51.2 percent). That dropped to 44.4 percent in Q2 2020, which is still a number any other company would give their whole paycheck for. It even dropped from Q2 2019 (46.6 percent). But the numbers are misleading. The U.S. Census department put the eCommerce increase from Q1 2020 to Q2 at 44 percent — a total of $211 billion. For Amazon to drop only 7 percent in total eCommerce share with that kind of overall increase is actually quite an achievement.
The Q3 guidance given by the company on its recent earnings call predicted a 30 to 40 percent increase over 2019. It’s proof that the company believes the digital shift will last, but CFO Brian Olsavsky played coy on the call. “I think it’s hard to tell, but we’re super encouraged by the fact that grocery delivery picked up and that it [has] accelerated versus what we were thought,” he said. “And we certainly are glad to be there for our Prime members who are shopping more frequently and buying more. We do know that there are other options, but they’re limited. Hopefully, things like masks and gloves and cleaning supplies are just one-time purchases, but we’ll see.”
Amazon proved to be especially popular with younger customers, the PYMNTS Black Friday survey showed, with almost 90 percent of consumers between the ages of 25 and 40 visiting its site. The appeal of online shopping in the COVID-era also saw strong response from older shoppers too, as 70 percent of 55- to 75-year-old baby boomers also said they shopped on Amazon Friday.
By comparison, the survey showed the generational mix at second-ranked Walmart.com to be more divided, with 50 percent of millennials, 45 percent Generation Z and 31 percent of baby boomers and seniors shopping there. The survey showed Gen Z shoppers were Target.com’s largest demographic, with 45 percent of respondents shopping there, followed by 38 percent millennials and 21 percent of baby boomers.
Other notable website visits consumers mentioned included eBay at 18 percent, Macy’s at 15.5 percent, Nike at 13 percent, Home Depot at 11 percent, Lowes at 7.4 percent, Costco at 10.5 percent, Nordstrom at 8 percent and Dick’s Sporting Goods at 6.5 percent.
When separated into three household annual income levels (below $50,000; $50,000 to $100,000; and over $100,000) the survey showed Amazon with an affluent advantage, as roughly 80 percent of shoppers fell into the top income category, 73 percent were in the middle range and a solid 68 percent in the lowest segment. By comparison, Walmart.com’s income breakdown was much more even, with 44 percent in the top and bottom brackets and 41 percent in the middle. For Target, the survey showed a slight bias toward more affluent customers, with 38 percent of shoppers earning more than $100,000, 30 percent in the middle-income bracket and only 26 percent in the lower-income set.
The surge in online shopping was paired with a commensurate decline of in-store Black Friday shopping. In the brick-and-mortar category, Walmart led all other retailers with 61 percent of respondents, followed by 42 who went to Target. At the same time, the survey showed Kohl’s (23 percent) outperformed Macy’s (18.7 percent), Nordstrom (9 percent) and Saks Fifth Avenue (2.7 percent).
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