The holidays are over (boo), but the numbers are in. While you were buying socks for your mother-in-law, Adobe was analyzing e-comm transactions across 1+ trillion visits to US retail websites. Let the record show that nearly two years of a pandemic and growing supply-chain issues have not deterred shoppers’ gift-giving spirits.

Consumers spent a record $204.5 billion online during the 2021 holiday season (from November 1 to New Year’s Eve), up 8.6% YoY, according to Adobe data released today.

• As the shopping period expanded beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 38 days surpassed $3 billion in daily sales, compared to 25 days in 2020.

But surging demand to click and buy is not without complications.

Out of stock, still in mind: Shoppers saw more than 6 billion “out of stock” messages online during the holiday season, a 253% increase over the 2019 pre-pandemic season and a 10% jump YoY.

“That manifested in weaker discounts, so consumers didn’t shop as much during the [Black Friday] period,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, told Retail Brew.

• Discounts for the season were lower across major categories. Electronics, for example, saw them drop to -8% vs. -21% in 2020.
• Online spending during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving jumped 19.2% YoY, while Cyber Week slumped 1.4%. The month-ish period between November 30 and NYE climbed 5.6% over the same time frame, as last-minute shoppers hit Add to Cart, deals be damned.

“Toward the end [of the season], many [consumers] were like, ‘Well, I’m going to have to absorb these costs and get what I need for Christmas,’” he continued. “That’s what pushed the growth toward the end of the season.”

Take it easy: To avoid shipping complications, supply-chain uncertainties, and those two dreaded words (“sold out”), Christmas–crazed customers looked to the curb.

• Curbside pickup peaked at 40% of all online orders on the day before Christmas Eve.

TL;DR: Customers want their goods, and they want them now. It’s another reason why buy now, pay later is gaining popularity. BNPL revenue was up 27% YoY for the holiday season, while orders were up 10%. This kind of immediate gratification is also fueling mobile shopping.

• The season saw 43% of online sales coming in via smartphones, racking up $88 billion overall, an increase of 40% from 2020. There were six days where more than half of all e-comm transactions were done on mobile.

“Retailers really need to always be thinking mobile-first in terms of selling online and making sure those experiences are good for consumers,” Pandya explained. “That’s where they’re going first. And they’re wanting to spend more and buy bigger ticket items on smartphones.”

+1: Incidentally, we just wrote about the growing necessity of robust retail apps.—JG

Things sure look rocky in Colorado. More than 8,000 unionized workers across 77 locations of Kroger subsidiaries King Soopers and City Market in the Denver metro area went on strike this morning after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract.

Members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, the union representing the workers, initiated the strike at 5am MT and plan to continue for three weeks, until February 2.

• Union President Kim Cordova called it “the largest labor dispute involving grocery workers [in Colorado] since 1996” on Monday.

The union said it’s seeking higher wages, better health benefits, and a safer work environment (like many workers across the industry), criticizing a policy change that ended paid Covid leave for unvaccinated employees and Covid-related financial support for all workers.

• A report released yesterday by the Economic Roundtable group, commissioned by the UFCW, found that two-thirds of Kroger workers struggle to afford food, while 14% are currently homeless, or were in the last year.

How did we get here? It’s a long(er) story that you can read here, but some background:

King Soopers/City Market on January 6 proposed a $148 million investment in new wages and signing bonuses to the union. This included $16/hour starting pay ($0.13 above the minimum wage in Denver, where many stores are located, Cordova noted to Huffpost) with increases of up to $4.50/hour in the first year, plus signing bonuses of $2,000–$4,000.

The following day, UFCW Local 7 announced its intention to strike, with Cordova saying in a statement that King Soopers/City Market “refuses to listen” to its requests and “has chosen to protect its bottom line.”

The company then made a “last, best, and final offer” on Tuesday, upping its proposed investment in wages and bonuses to $170 million—the “largest wage and benefit investment in King Soopers/City Market history,” it claimed—which the union has rejected.

“We strike because it has become clear this is the only way to get what is fair, just, and equitable for the grocery workers who have risked their lives every day just by showing up to work during the pandemic,” Cordova told Retail Brew in an emailed statement.

• King Soopers/City Market said the union’s decision to strike was “disappointing” in a statement today and that Cordova “has been determined from the onset of negotiations to take you out on strike to serve her own self-interests.” (The company did not respond to our request for comment.)

What now? We’ll have to wait and see. But King Soopers’ division president, Joe Kelley, told CBS Denver the company is preparing for the strike by bringing in 300–400 workers from Kroger’s sister companies and hiring temp workers.

Zoom out: Kroger just faced a strike in December, when unionized workers at Fred Meyer and QFC locations picketed for one day before reaching a tentative agreement with their parent company. But so has the wider food sector, with workers at Kellogg, Frito-Lay, and Nabisco joining picket lines in recent months.—EC

Today’s top retail reads.

Where is everything? Between Covid, (seemingly) neverending supply-chain disruptions, winter weather, and people staying home, grocers can’t keep shelves stocked. (The Washington Post)

Pelting back: How the fur industry is trying to rehabilitate its image with a self-policing sustainability certification. (Bloomberg)

Nonstop: Omicron is a misery for retail workers—even the healthy ones. “Every day, we have call-outs, and we have a lot of them,” one Macy’s employee said. “Morale could not be lower.” (The New York Times)

Looking for more? Check out Retail Brew’s latest article: “What retailers will focus on in 2022,” sponsored by Attentive.

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Jennifer Leire is the VP of customer success at Vibes, a mobile-messaging (and engagement) platform that counts Chipotle, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lego, and more among its client roster. But, what’s the ~vibe~ of her role? She tells us more below.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I help brands and retailers create one-on-one connections and personalized experiences for consumers through their mobile devices.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: I love creating operational efficiencies that result in delivering customer delight. It’s critical to lead with data to tell a story and provide insights to help companies answer complex business questions and improve decision-making.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Launching mobile engagement programs for a large retailer during Covid-19, including contactless offers and BOPIS. The retailer saw more than $20.3 million in mobile-attributed revenue within five months.

A retail trend that you’re pumped about this year: I’m most excited about loyalty and mobile wallet as emerging retail trends. These technologies allow retailers to deliver timely and relevant engagement to raise brand awareness. Mobile wallet passes allow consumers to access coupons, promotions, and other personalized content.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is...Shake Shack—the food is so delicious.

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