Black Friday Breaks Online Sales Record: 54% of Purchases made on Smartphones

Black Friday Online Sales Hit Record High

Yesterday, online shopping reached a new high for Black Friday with $9.8 billion in sales in the U.S., according to Adobe Analytics. This marked a 7.5% increase from last year and exceeded analysts’ expectations of $9.6 billion. The Vice President and General Manager of Retail at Salesforce, Rob Garf, commented that retailers offered greater discounts, leading to higher sales. Discounts were as much as 35% off the retail price.

It was also noted that $5.3 billion of the $9.8 billion in sales were made through smartphones, accounting for 54% of the total sales. This is expected to continue throughout the holiday season, with smartphone sales anticipated to make up 51% of all sales.

Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, stated, “Black Friday re-asserted its dominance this season with record spend of $9.8 billion driven by new demand for the major sales’ day.” Pandya also attributed the strong sales to declining online prices over the past year, which created a favorable environment for consumers.

Adobe also found that 80.5% of online orders are being delivered with standard shipping, as consumers are willing to cut back on shipping costs. This is especially relevant for Black Friday, considering the holiday is still a month away. Adobe predicts that the entire “Cyber Week” shopping period, encompassing Thanksgiving and “Cyber Monday,” will generate $37.2 billion in online sales, accounting for 17% of all holiday season sales.