Global Data Market News

Mobile sales overtake desktop during Cyber Week 2023

According to Adobe Analytics, mobile shopping surpassed desktop buying for the first time during Cyber Week 2023, accounting for 51.8% of online sales.  This shift towards mobile has significant implications for search marketing, as fewer results are displayed on smaller screens, making paid search more prominent.

During Cyber Week, total online expenditure reached $38 billion, with mobile claiming a greater proportion of sales than desktop. Paid search was the biggest driver of online sales during this period, accounting for 27% of purchases, followed by organic search at 17%. Other channels that contributed to online sales include:

• direct sales (21%),
• email (15%), 
• affiliates/partners (12%),
• social media (5%)

Source: Warc

Programmatic Advertising Trends Q4 2023 

Digital advertisers have faced challenges as Google has continually changed its plans regarding third-party cookie deprecation, as the deadline approaches advertisers are focusing on addressability and AI to navigate the evolving programmatic landscape. 

In the past decade, smartphones and connected TVs have dominated programmatic ad spending in the US, and the market will continue to evolve with AI and ad tech consolidation in the next ten years. 

Source: Insider Intelligence 

Programmatic CTV Is In Its Consolidation Phase 

Broadcasters and brands are keen on applying digital targeting to their connected TV ad campaigns. However, obstacles such as price and transparency issues hinder CTV advertisers from fully embracing programmatic advertising. These challenges impede the shift of budgets from direct deals to programmatic bidding for media companies. 

To overcome these roadblocks, supply consolidation is crucial. By restructuring and consolidating the programmatic model for CTV, efficiency can be improved, costs can be reduced, and transparency can be enhanced. Implementing centralized ad servers can also contribute to cost efficiency and frequency management, making programmatic a more cost-effective solution for streaming TV.

Source: AdExchanger

Ad Market Expands For Fourth Consecutive, October Climbs 3.2%

According to updated data from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker, the U.S. ad market experienced its fourth consecutive month of expansion in October, with a 3.2% rise compared to October 2022. This growth is significant as it is the largest gain since July's 6.2% increase, indicating a recovery in ad spending from major agency holding companies and independent media agencies. 

Despite ongoing uncertainties, this expansion is seen as a positive indicator ahead of the year-end updates and forecasts from the top agency holding companies. Interestingly, the expansion was relatively equal across both the top 10 ad categories and all other ad categories. 

Source: Media Post 

Industry snapshot: Five trends shaping B2B marketing in 2024

• Influencers: Three-quarters of B2B marketers are currently utilizing influencers, and 93% of CMOs plan to use influencers more frequently.
• B2B Sales: B2B buyers spend roughly two-thirds of their time engaging with suppliers online – either through digital self-service or remote human interactions. The remaining one-third of interactions occur via traditional channels such as face-to-face meetings or direct mail. 
• AI Budgets: A majority (93%) of B2B executives plan to increase their investment in generative AI within the next 12 months.
• Marketing efficiency: Less than half (47%) of SaaS licenses are actively used, and roughly three in five (61%) B2B marketers think their current martech stack is too complex.
• ESG as a catalyst: Nearly half (46%) of B2B decision-makers think that ESG has become more important as a consideration in procurement decisions over the past two years.

Source: Warc

$9.8bn Black Friday online spend record

Black Friday online buying hit a new record in the US, with total online spend coming to a record USD $9.8bn (£7.7bn). Smartphones represented 54% of all online sales. Sales increased by 7.5% from 2022, according to Adobe Analytics, bypassing their own predictions for the day.

 Adobe says it bases its calculations on over 1 trillion visits to US retail sites, the movement of around 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. Globally, total online spending came to USD $70.9bn (£56bn).

Source: ExchangeWire

Strong Q3 GDP growth and record-breaking Cyber Week sales show consumer spending remains strong

Holiday shopping metrics are showing positive trends, with a record 200.4 million consumers shopping during the Cyber Five holiday weekend, representing a 1.9% YoY increase. Despite a decline in the number of consumers visiting physical stores, online shopping witnessed a significant growth of 3.1%. 

Sales figures have also been impressive, with overall US retail sales (excluding automotive) growing 2.5% YoY on Black Friday, driven by an 8.5% YoY increase in ecommerce sales. The US economy remains strong, with a GDP growth rate of 5.2% in Q3 and a deceleration in inflation. Consumers have disposable income to spend, and their focus is on finding deals and promotions

Source: InsiderIntelligence

Ecommerce sales soar on Black Friday, while in-store sales grew just 1.1%

On Black Friday, online sales in the US reached a record $9.8 billion, growing by 8.5% compared to the previous year. In-store sales, on the other hand, only increased by 1.1%.Mobile devices played a significant role in driving online sales, accounting for 59% of sales on Thanksgiving Day and 54% on Black Friday. This trend indicates the increasing comfort of shoppers with mobile shopping. 

Alternative payment methods, such as buy now, pay later (BNPL), also gained popularity, with BNPL online orders increasing by 72% compared to the previous week. . Overall, ecommerce is projected to account for 19.3% of holiday sales, an 80 basis point increase from last year.

Source: Insider Intelligence

Google’s 2024 cookie deprecation deadline is still on

Dan Taylor, Google's Vice President  of Global Advertising, has confirmed that the company's timeline for phasing out third-party cookies by the end of 2024 remains unchanged despite the Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit. 

In January 2024, Google plans to deactivate 1% of third-party cookies in Chrome, creating a real-world testing environment to understand the impact on campaigns and ad relevance. This testing phase aims to evaluate how campaigns, performance, volume, and ad relevance will change without the presence of third-party cookie signals.

Source: Digiday