This real-time Black Friday tracker shows just how much we shop online
Shopping season is upon us — even if Thanksgiving is just getting started.
To really see how much everyone's dropping on deals, online shopping platform Shopify has a real-time dashboard showing how much and what (and from where) people are buying online.
SEE ALSO: Black Friday 2017 deals from all over the internet, compiled just for you in one handy spreadsheet
With over 500,000 online merchants, Shopify's dashboard this year will track shopping habits as the purchases happen. Based on feedback from last year's visualizer, the company is including more data about shopping trends. They'll show what categories are most popular, like fashion and apparel, health and beauty products, and toys and electronics.
You'll also be able to see the size and scale of Black Friday-Cyber Monday shopping with reports on numbers of orders and dollars spent — down to the minute.
Black Friday is of course a big retail "holiday" in brick-and-mortar stores. Then after a weekend of shopping, Cyber Monday has blown up as its own "holiday" for all the online deals and tech purchases. Now the lines have blurred and it's turned into a massive post-Thanksgiving consumer extravaganza.
"It is all one event," Shopify VP of product Satish Kanwar said in an interview. "It’s not as black and white. It’s kind of a singular marathon that’s happening."
The shopping marathon brought in $555,716 in a single minute to Shopify merchants last year. Overall, consumer spending hit $3.45 billion on Cyber Monday last year, according to Shopify. This year is set to be even bigger — which seems nuts.
"We're expecting the [shopping] season to be larger," Kanwar said. He said sales are starting earlier and countries outside of the U.S. are getting in on the discounts. More people are shopping from their phones, as well, he said.
Shopify's Kanwar called all the shopping excitement this weekend the "Super Bowl of commerce." He's hoping to get a new winter wardrobe and a Nintendo Switch.A holiday shopping survey from WalletHub found that the most wanted gifts this year were gift cards, clothes and electronics.
Better remember to stretch before whipping out that credit card.
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