LOS ANGELES — A recent CBRE report found that online sales during the course of the Thanksgiving weekend grew 17 percent over 2013, with an average order size of $124. Similarly, on Cyber Monday, sales grew 8.5 percent year-over-year. (Cyber Monday fell on Dec. 1 this year.)
“Cyber Monday is no longer a one-day event,” says Spencer Levy, head of research for CBRE Americas. “Consumers are now spreading their holiday shopping over ‘Cyber Week’, taking advantage of online sales that began before Black Friday. Continued strength in online shopping is a trend which bodes well for the U.S. industrial real estate market, as e-commerce companies and omnichannel retailers will need more space to warehouse and process online shipments.”
During the five-day “Cyber Week” period, online sales were up 12.6 percent nationwide, indicating that consumers are spreading their shopping activity over the course of the holiday season rather than just focusing on a single day.
Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers seemed to reap the benefits of adopting omnichannel strategies, the report points out. On Cyber Monday, department stores recorded 17.9 percent year-over-year growth in online sales nationwide, while the biggest retailer in the U.S., Walmart, reported its best Cyber Monday ever.
In response to the double-digit online sales growth, UPS and FedEx announced that, between the two package delivery giants, they would hire 150,000 seasonal employees — double the number over last year — to meet the increased holiday demand.
CBRE research shows that the growth of e-commerce has had a significant effect on the U.S. industrial real estate market, with more than 35 million square feet leased by e-commerce users in 2014 and at least that many expected for 2015.
— Staff Reports