In the surging commercialization of US holidays, Black Friday has taken the lead, at least online. On the day after Thanksgiving, when retailers put on huge sales and Americans have traditionally flooded retail stores, shoppers this year spent more than $3 billion online. That’s 22% more than last year, according to Adobe, and it marks the largest single day in the history of US online shopping.
For the first time ever, shoppers spent more than $1 billion just using their phones and tablets, a 33% jump on last year. And even as we reach this milestone in mass consumerism, there’s still room for mobile revenues to grow. Adobe, which collects data on online shopping through one of its marketing platforms, said that while 55% of visits to retail websites came from mobile devices, it only accounts for about a third of the sales.
Adobe’s Tamara Gaffney said the unprecedented day of sales means Black Friday might take the crown back from Cyber Monday as the biggest shopping day of the year. But we will have to wait to find out if today breaks a new record. Last month, Adobe forecast Cyber Monday sales to exceed $3.3 billion.
Between Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, Americans are expected to spend $8.6 billion this year, even more than the frenzied deal-hunting that totaled $7.5 billion in 2015. Over the holidays, three-quarters of sales are for just 1% of products, similar to last year. The best-selling electronic products on Friday were on the Apple iPad, Samsung 4k TV, Apple MacBook Air, LG TV, and Microsoft Xbox. Given the higher-than-expected shopping on Friday, deals on those items may be scarcer today.
More than 122 million people plan to shop online today, according to the National Retail Federation. Good luck out there!