Sneakers, cosmetics among top US holiday purchases

Dive Brief:

According to a report from installment payment platform Afterpay, nearly 80% of customers used mobile devices for their purchases during the holiday season, which the report examined between Nov. 15, 2019 and the end of December. That represents a 12% increase in mobile purchasing from 2018.
The most popular brands in the U.S. included ColourPop, Nike, Levi's, Ray-Ban, Steve Madden and Jeffree Star Cosmetics, per the report. DSW, Urban Outfitters, Ulta Beauty and GOAT were the top retailers for American consumers, according to the report.
Among the top items U.S. consumers purchased were basketball shoes, running sneakers and cosmetics, according to the report. The company also noted that Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, Houston and Philadelphia were the U.S. cities with the highest shopping volume.

Dive Insight:

Afterpay's findings align with previous reports indicating that mobile played a significant role in the 2019 holiday shopping season. According to a report from Bloomreach, mobile sales on Black Friday increased by 17% from the previous year. Meanwhile, another report from Nosto, an AI personalization platform, found that mobile shopping accounted for 67% of traffic to fashion retail sites during the 2019 holiday season.

Afterpay has been working on expanding its footprint among American retailers. Earlier this year, the company announced that several retailers, including Levi's, Tarte Cosmetics and Ray-Ban, would be integrated into the platform, allowing consumers to access the platform's interest-free payment plans for online and in-store purchases. In the statement announcing its 2019 holiday shopping report, the company noted that more than 3 million active customers have used Afterpay at a partner retailer in the U.S., most of whom are millennial or Gen Z shoppers.

While the statement announcing Afterpay's report mentions millennials' increased spending power in 2020, that doesn't necessarily mean they will use installment plans to put their purchases within financial reach. In the past, this recession-weary generation has been hesitant to work with credit cards and other lines of credit.

On the other hand, 52% of millennials said they are willing to increase their debt, a CreditCards.com survey found, especially for big events like the holidays. And while younger millennials were the most likely to apply for store credit cards, they also were the most likely to be denied, a CompareCards.com report found.