Black Friday Online Sales Hit $11.8 Billion, Driven by Mobile & AI, Adobe Reports
NEW YORK – American consumers shattered onlineโค spending records this Black Friday, totaling $11.8 billion โin purchases – a 9.1% increase over the previous year, according to data released โby โAdobe Analytics. The surge in digital spending underscores the continuing โฃshift towards โe-commerce during the holiday season adn highlights the growing influence of mobile shopping โand artificial intelligence.
Peak online traffic occuredโ between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, โฃwith shoppers spending an amazing $12.5 million per minute during โthat period. Significantโ sales increases were observed acrossโ several key categories, including video game consoles (up 1,900%), โtelevisionsโ (1,740%), headphones and speakers (1,700%), and refrigerators (1,630%).
discounts were widespread, with toys seeing reductions ofโ up to 30% from original prices,โค followed by electronics (29%), televisions (24%),โข and clothing โ(25%). Top-selling toys included LEGO products, Nerf guns, boardโข games, and Pokรฉmon cards, while the Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X,โฃ and PlayStation 5 lead console โsales.
Mobile devices dominated the shopping experience, accounting for โ55.2% of all online sales โฃ- aโ total of $6.5 billion.Adobe noted that this trend supportsโฃ impulse purchases and fuels overall e-commerce growth. โ”Mobile isโข now the dominant form of shopping during theโ Christmas โseason,” the firm stated.
Socialโ commerce also experienced considerableโ growth,โข contributing 3.4% of โonline โขpurchases,โข a year-over-year increase of 54.5%.
Perhaps surprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) played a significant role, driving an 805%โ increase in traffic to retail websites compared to last year. Consumers leveraged โAI โฃtools to research โproducts and find โdeals, particularly inโค categories like โvideoโ games, โappliances, electronics, toys, and baby/personal care items. โฃShoppers arriving at websites via AI were โค38% โmore likely to makeโ a โpurchase than those arriving through otherโค channels.
Lookingโ ahead, Adobe estimates $6.4 billion was spent online during Thanksgiving, and projects $5.5 billion in spending today โข(Saturday) and $5.9 billion on Sunday. Cyber Mondayโ is forecast toโฃ be the largest online shopping day of the year, with an anticipated $14.2 billion in sales.
Adobe predicts that Cyber Week – encompassing Thanksgiving, Blackโ Friday, andโฃ Cyber Monday – will โaccount for approximately 17.2% of total โholiday โคseason spending, reaching $43.7 billion, a 6.3% increase year-over-year.
Source: Adobe Analytics,โข DMC.