Consumers Spent $222.1bn Online During Holiday Season; Channel 4 Confirms Major Upcoming Job Cuts; Podcasts Gaining Popularity in China

by Aimee Newell Tarín on 9th Jan 2024 in News

On today’s ExchangeWire digest: Consumers Spent $222.1bn Online During Holiday Season; Channel 4 Confirms Major Upcoming Job Cuts; Podcasts Gaining Popularity in China…

Consumers spent a tremendous USD $222.1bn (£174.6bn) on online shopping during the recent holiday season (1st November to 31st December 2023), finds research from Adobe Analytics. This figure is an increase of 4.9% from the previous years’ holiday season revenue. Spending was fairly equal on both mobile and desktop/other devices overall, with total mobile spending accounting for 51.1%. However, data from specific dates reveals a much higher conversion rate on mobile than on desktop – conversion rates were around double on mobile on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Amid the worst TV advertising downturn in the past decade and a half, Channel 4 has confirmed it will be making major cuts to its workforce. An internal email distributed on Monday morning told staff: “Given all the market change and complexity that we need to adapt to, there will be an impact on jobs at Channel 4.” Currently, around a quarter of the broadcaster’s total revenue comes from digital advertising on its streaming service. The cuts are expected to mainly impact London-based staff. At the end of this month, the broadcaster is due to unveil its strategic plans for up until 2030.

In China, podcasts are gaining popularity: in 2023, one in five of the country’s internet users listened to a podcast last year on Ximalaya – one of China’s most popular platforms for podcasting and audiobooks. The platform’s research reveals that users aged between 24 and 40 years represented over 60% of the country’s podcast listeners, and that its podcasting audience skewed towards young Chinese professionals.