According to Adobe Analytics, the $9.12 billion figure increased from $8.92 billion in 2021 and $9.03 billion the year before. People are paying more to buy less this year due to inflation, which contributes to some of the increase.
According to Adobe, online sales of electronics increased by 221% on Friday compared to a typical day in October 2022. Apple MacBooks and watches were among the top products sold. Drones, the Xbox Series X, and video games like FIFA 23 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were additional well-liked products. According to Adobe, sales will continue to be strong over the weekend, with shoppers expected to spend an additional $4.52 billion on Saturday and $4.99 billion on Sunday. With totals expected to reach $11.2 billion, Cyber Monday will likely surpass Black Friday in terms of online sales.
With 67% of Black Friday shoppers expected to have visited stores, traditional brick-and-mortar store purchases are still anticipated to make up the majority of holiday retail spending, according to the National Retail Federation. Over the course of the five days from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday, more than 166 million Americans are anticipated to shop both offline and online. The NRF has been tracking data since 2017, and this prediction is its highest to date.
Even though Black Friday online sales broke records, consumer economic anxiety is at its highest point since the Great Recession of 2008–2009. According to the NRF, more than 60% of Americans said that their plans to spend money for the holidays were being affected by the state of the economy.
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay stated in a press release last week that “despite much speculation regarding the impact of inflation on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing.”
Americans are turning to buy now, pay later orders, which let customers pay in interest-free installments, to reduce immediate large spending. Orders for “buy now, pay later” increased 78% this week over the same week last year, according to Adobe. Additionally, during that time, these orders’ revenue increased by 81%.
