Shares of Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) saw an increase of nearly 5% intra-day today following the announcement that its merchants achieved a record $4.1 billion in sales on Black Friday.
Shopify reported that businesses using its platform experienced a 22% growth in global sales compared to the previous year during the renowned post-Thanksgiving sales event. This increase was particularly notable in sectors such as clothing, personal care products, and jewelry.
This performance by Shopify is being closely watched by investors as they try to understand how consumer spending patterns leading up to the holiday season might influence future interest rate decisions by the Federal Reserve. The U.S. central bank has been engaged in a sustained effort to tighten monetary policy to control inflation, and there is keen interest in whether these measures are effectively slowing down price increases.
Supporting this perspective, third-party analytics referenced by the Wall Street Journal indicated that retail sales in the U.S., encompassing both online and in-store transactions on Black Friday, rose by 2.5% compared to the year before.