Shopify has broken its sales record for the Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend yet again, despite warning that an unresolved Canada Post strike would “devastate” the Canadian economy last week.
Shopify has beat its BFCM sales record every year since it started sharing the data.
According to Shopify’s retrospective report of the weekend, the e-commerce giant’s merchants generated a cumulative $11.5 billion USD in sales over the BFCM weekend. The figure marks a 24 percent increase on the $9.3 billion in sales recorded for the same occasion last year, which set another record in itself. Shopify has beat its BFCM sales record every year since it started sharing the data.
The report says that more than 76 million consumers made purchases, with more than 67,000 merchants having their highest-selling day ever on Shopify over the weekend, and 16,500 merchants making their first-ever sale. Shopify says sales peaked on Black Friday at 12:01 p.m. EST with $4.6 million being processed per minute.
Shopify also saw a 58 percent year-over-year increase in sales using its one-click online checkout solution, Shop Pay.
According to the report, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Germany were the top-selling countries. A Shopify spokesperson told BetaKit that the average cart price in Canada was $199.60 CAD, more than the global average of $152.69 CAD ($108.56 USD). Point-of-sale sales made by Shopify merchants in Canada also grew by 32 percent compared to last year’s BFCM weekend.
The weekend wasn’t without its hiccups, as Shopify merchants reported issues in using their Shopify emails to reach out to their customers on Black Friday. Shopify Support confirmed the issue on Friday evening, later saying the issue was resolved on Saturday morning.
The apparent sales bonanza contrasts with Shopify’s hardline letter to Minister of Labour and Seniors Steve MacKinnon last week, which called on the federal government to “do whatever is necessary” to get 55,000 striking Canada Post workers back to work ahead of the BFCM weekend. In the letter, Shopify claimed at least 67,000 of its associated small businesses rely on Canada Post to fulfill orders and suggested the use of binding arbitration. MacKinnon later said that option was “not in the cards.”
While the strike is still ongoing, the company reportedly presented the union with updated proposals on Sunday after a brief period of stalled negotiations.
The Canada Post strike has cost the small and medium-sized business sector at least $765 million, or $76.6 million each business day, according to a report from small business lobby group the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). CFIB claimed that 41 percent of surveyed SMBs reported cost impacts totalling $2,000 in lost orders, more expensive delivery alternatives, late payments, and the inability to promote their business. CFIB said 69 percent of small business owners want the government to introduce back-to-work legislation.
Square and Afterpay also reported their own record-breaking data from their Canadian customers over BFCM weekend. The report said 5.9 million transactions were facilitated by Canadian companies using Square and Afterpay, an 18 percent increase from last year. Meanwhile, online and in-store shopping sales increased by 31 percent and 20 percent, respectively, with online cart sizes larger than in-person carts by nearly a factor of five. Buy Now, Pay Later transactions through Afterpay also increased 23 percent year-over-year.
Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.
Feature image courtesy Shopify via LinkedIn.
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