Consumers are spending big this holiday shopping season as they seek steep discounts during Thanksgiving and Black Friday. So far, U.S. shoppers spent $86.6 billion between Nov. 1 and Nov. 24, according to Adobe Analytics. The firm expects today's Cyber Monday sales to hit a record.
Black Friday e-commerce spending jumped 7.5% from last year to reach $9.8 billion in the U.S., Adobe Analytics reported Saturday. That surpassed Adobe forecasts of $9.6 billion.
Black Friday once again outpaced Thanksgiving Day shoppers, who spent $5.6 billion on items preparing for the end-of-year rush. Thanksgiving spending increased 5.5% from last year.
"We've seen a very strategic consumer emerge over the past year where they're really trying to take advantage of these marquee days, so that they can maximize on discounts," said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, CNBC reported.
Adobe noted consumers are increasingly taking advantage of "buy now, pay later" flexible spending programs. BNPL spending plans accounted for $79 million in sales for Black Friday, up 47% from last year. Overall BNPL spending totaled $6.5 billion so far this holiday season from Nov. 1 to Nov. 24.
The hottest products on Black Friday included KidKraft Playsets, Mini Brands, TVs, smartwatches and headphones, according to Adobe. The most-sought items on Thanksgiving were Barbie products from Mattel, Sony's PlayStation 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Bluetooth speakers and Holiday decorations.
"The strong online sales momentum for Black Friday this year further emphasizes the staying power the major holiday shopping days continue to have," Pandya said.
For Cyber Monday, Adobe forecasts spending climbs 5.4% from 2022 to a record $12 billion. The firm expected shoppers to spend roughly $10 billion on Saturday and Sunday leading up to the unofficial online sales holiday.
Adobe predicts overall holiday season revenue will increase 4.8% to $221.8 billion this year, compared to 2.5% growth in 2022. Holiday season spending rose 8.6% in 2021 to $205 billion.
The Adobe Holiday Shopping Trends report analyzes over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites across 18 product categories and 100 million unique items. The report does not include brick-and-mortar transactions.
Stock Action
Retailers and payments processing companies were broadly positive last week.
Walmart ticked up 0.5% during trade last week while rival Target rose 1.2%. WMT rose 0.3% early Monday. TGT slipped a fraction.
Amazon.com climbed 1% early Monday and is trading in a buy zone for a consolidation.
Shopify swung nearly 3% higher last week to close in a buy zone for a double-bottom base. Shares surged 4% Monday.
Visa gained 1.9% last week, and is trading in a buy zone for a cup base. Visa stock slipped 0.3% early Monday.
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