Online Black Friday sales this year reached a record $9.8 billion, according to data from Adobe Analytics. That’s an increase of 7.5% over last year’s Black Friday online spending, when inflation and rising costs were hitting consumers hard.
The largest driver of online Black Friday sales came from mobile. Adobe Analytics says smartphone shopping accounted for $5.3 billion of all online Black Friday sales. Smartphone online sales were up 10.4% year-over-year. Another factor in increasing online Black Friday sales this year was Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) programs, available in many smartphone apps. In the week ending on November 24, BNPL usage rose by 72% versus the prior week.
And mobile shopping isn’t expected to be just a Black Friday bump. For the first time ever, Adobe Analytics expects mobile shopping to overtake desktop online shopping for the entire holiday period. Hot categories this Black Friday included electronics, which were up 152% compared to October’s preholiday levels; apparel (up 136%); toys (up 132%); jewelry (up 114%); and appliances (up 112%). When it comes to electronics, smart watches, TVs, and audio equipment had some of the top sales growth compared to October’s preholiday levels.
But while Black Friday brought in $9.8 billion in online sales, Adobe Analytics still thinks that today, Cyber Monday, will be the year’s biggest online shopping day. The firm expects Cyber Monday online sales to be up 5.4% year-over-year to $12 billion.
To arrive at its numbers, Adobe Analytics analyzes one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and tracks 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
