We estimate that November sales excluding Cyber Five will grow 15%. Dive deeper: Several categories are driving this growth. Apparel and accessories will lead the pack with 25.5% growth, fueled by the return of in-person events. Discretionary categories like jewelry, luxury, and accessories will make a big comeback this year.

But the Prime Day void will not be easily filled, and a more disjointed early promotion season ultimately raises the stakes for the Cyber Five period. Read the full report.

Since 2019, there has been a 158% increase in cyber attacks in North America, and the many high profile attacks that have already occurred this year show no signs of slowing down. Further, the holiday shopping season has notoriously been a popular time to launch malware attacks, with many targeting customer payment information.

Join us to hear more from Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, as he unpacks our US holiday forecast for retail, ecommerce, and key shopping days in our upcoming live Meet the Analyst Webinar, "US Holiday Predictions: How Cyber Five, Top Retailers, and Product Categories Will Perform.”.

Cyber Five and other promotional days will be more, not less, important. The Cyber Five period gains share of ecommerce spending every year, and this year will be no different. As shoppers avoid crowds on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, “digital doorbusters” will push even more spending online on these days. Cyber Monday will set an ecommerce record with more than $12 billion in sales.

7 observations from Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2021: Buy Now Pay Later, SMS Marketing, BOPIS are highlights in an uneven holiday season.

The CEOs of top tech firms met with Biden to discuss US cybersecurity. Though cooperation may help, meaningful change will require legislation or the enforcement of mandatory security standards.

Consumers have concerns about cyberattacks

See the latest holiday shopping stories from Insider Intelligence

Despite being aware of shipping delays and low inventory, 74% of American shoppers say they plan to do some last-minute shopping this season. In response, some companies are adapting in ways that may benefit last-minute shoppers.

Cyber Five was then capped off by a huge Cyber Monday, which surged 19.7% to a record-setting $9.4 billion in spending. Not only was it the biggest ecommerce day in history, but it also had the strongest growth rate of the Cyber Five.

Brands should build flexibility into their budgets, so that if Prime Day is in October, they don’t have to make compromises between that tentpole and Cyber Five spend. Thanksgiving store openings. When physical stores began opening on Thanksgiving Day (in 2013), it created some unintended side effects for retailers.

The Cyber Five promotional period—Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday—will continue gaining share of the total holiday ecommerce pie, rising slightly this year to capture 20.5%. We forecast that Cyber Five ecommerce sales in the US will bring in $39.10 billion in 2020, up 39.6% from 2019. Within the Cyber Five period, there will be some record-breaking days.

On these marketplaces, promotions and events like Amazon Prime Day and the Cyber 5 period have proved to be great levers to drive more shoppers. Many food and beverage brands have focused on transforming their digital approach and making their media shoppable. This ensures a smoother customer journey and improves their relationship with their retailers.

eMarketer senior analyst Bill Fisher hosts senior forecasting analyst Cindy Liu, research analyst Man-Chung Cheung, researcher Xiaodi Xu, and research analyst at Insider Intelligence Matteo Ceurvels to discuss holiday shopping around the world. They talk about the origins of Thanksgiving weekend shopping, why China's Singles' Day is the largest shopping holiday in the world, and how the Buen Fin in Mexico is adapting in 2020.