Security News > 2020 > November > What's happening today: The election and online spending
Consumer anxiety regarding the election results had a muted impact on online shopping activities on Election Day, Nov. 3.
Adobe's report noted that today, the day after the election, there will be an expected 13% drop in sales, versus the previous three days, in which online sales increased by 31%. "To be clear," said Taylor Schreiner, director at Adobe Digital Insights, "We're not basing our forecast on who wins the presidency, rather we're looking at people's propensity to shop online during an election cycle, based on historical context."
"Online shopping remained relatively stable on election day as many consumers hit the polls," Schreiner said, and added, "However, previous election cycles have shown that online growth tends to drop most notably on the day after the election. Once a clearer picture of the election emerges in the coming days, we expect to see holiday shopping pick back up shortly after."
Unsurprisingly, since the outcome of the elections will impact everyone in the US, 26% of consumers said that knowing the election outcome will impact how they spend their money during the holidays.
Adobe did a survey of 1,000 US consumers and discovered that after the presidential election is decided, 63% of retailers believe consumers will gain confidence in spending after the results are announced, but 26% of US consumers said the outcome of the election will definitely impact holiday spending.