This will probably turn out to be the biggest Black Friday online ever.
Adobe, which monitors sales on retailer websites, forecasts that total online sales for the day following Thanksgiving would surpass $9 billion. A record would be set there.
Online consumers spent $7.28 billion as of 6 p.m. ET. Before the day is out, that amount could increase to as much as $9.2 billion, according to Adobe.
The record-breaking expenditure follows a successful Thanksgiving shopping day in which customers spent an all-time high of $5.29 billion online, up 2.9% compared to the previous year. According to Adobe, buyers typically spend between $2 billion and $3 billion online each day.
The retailer claimed that customers were purchasing Apple goods like watches and AirPods, smart speakers and televisions, espresso makers, and gaming consoles in addition to Funko, Hatchimals, and Squishmallow toys.
This year, according to Adobe, mobile shopping also reached a record high, with sales from smartphones making up 55% of all online transactions on Thanksgiving. According to the firm, these sales will make up 53% of all Black Friday purchases.
Strong discounts also encouraged shoppers to add more products to their baskets despite their weariness from inflation. During the season, the average order volume increased by 12%. With discounts up to 33% off, toys in particular drove a large amount of demand.
These figures might offer shops a positive sign for the coming weeks. Forecasts for the early holidays have been vague. In late October and early November, retailers like Target, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and others reported a decline in sales. Over the previous month, consumer morale has deteriorated as inflation has been close to four-decades high.
This has increased the pressure on merchants on Black Friday weekend, which is frequently when the largest discounts of the Christmas shopping season are offered.
When compared to 2021, Adobe predicts that the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday will result in online sales of about $34.8 billion. The company predicted that Cyber Monday would be the busiest online shopping day, with sales expected to reach $11.2 billion.
