Shopify merchants collectively surpass $1M in sales per minute on Black Friday

The busiest shopping day of the year lit up Shopify’s servers as merchants reported record sales on Black Friday.

At the peak of the day’s purchasing, the Ottawa e-commerce firm’s merchants cha-chinged to the tune of $1.14 million per minute. Last year’s per-minute high was just $555,716.

Most of the retail activity took place south of the border, with California, New York, Texas and Florida representing both the highest number of sellers and shoppers.

Shopify reports that Black Friday sales continue to go mobile, reflecting the wider trend in retail. Two-thirds of sales on the Shopify platform on Black Friday were on a tablet or smartphone, compared to 58 per cent in 2016.

Earlier this year, PwC’s Total Retail Survey reported that “we’re at a tipping point with mobile” as users become increasingly comfortable with making purchases from their smartphones.

The majority of shoppers were shopping for apparel this weekend, as 1.4 million pieces of clothing were purchased. Accessories came second with just over 900,000 buys.

Traditionally, the busiest shopping weekend of the year follows Thanksgiving in the United States. Black Friday tends to lend itself to door-crasher sales at brick and mortar stores, while Cyber Monday is meant to be the primary source of online sales.

Shopify currently has a livestream running tabulating its merchants’ Cyber Monday sales per minute. As of 9:30 a.m., sales fluctuated around $215,000 per minute.