Online expenditures by U.S. shoppers reached an unprecedented $11.8 billion on Black Friday, a figure reported by Adobe Analytics, which monitors over a trillion visits to American retail sites.
This represents an all-time high, surpassing the $10.8 billion recorded on Black Friday in the previous year, according to Adobe. From 10 AM to 2 PM, consumers reportedly disbursed an astonishing $12.5 million per minute online. Forbes highlighted an Adobe statement emphasizing that these figures confirm Black Friday’s transformation into “a significant e-commerce event, with a growing number of consumers choosing to shop from home for deals.”
Adobe forecasts that Cyber Monday, slated for December 1, just two days away, will exceed this, with projected online spending reaching $14.2 billion, as reported by Reuters.
Insights from Black Friday, gathered by firms such as Adobe and Salesforce, frequently serve as preliminary indicators for the wider holiday shopping season. Adobe anticipates overall holiday spending this year to reach $253.4 billion, an increase from $241.1 billion in the preceding year.
Salesforce reported tracking $79 billion in worldwide Black Friday spending, with $18 billion attributed to the United States, marking year-over-year gains of 6% and 3% respectively. However, this expansion might be less a result of heightened consumer demand and more a reflection of elevated prices; Salesforce data also indicated an average price increase of 7%, alongside a 1% decrease in order volumes.
Furthermore, both Adobe and Salesforce observe an escalating impact of artificial intelligence on holiday retail activities. For instance, Salesforce stated that AI and AI-powered agents contributed to $22 billion in global sales during the period between Thanksgiving and Black Friday, though the precise scope of this “influence” remains somewhat ambiguous.
The correlation between online trends and physical store shopping is less definitive, with conflicting reports: RetailNext informed Forbes that nationwide in-store traffic saw a 3.4% decline, whereas Pass_by reported an overall foot traffic increase of 1.17%, with department stores experiencing a more substantial 7.9% rise.