Online retailers enjoyed strong sales during “Cyber Five,” the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday and the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
According to Adobe Analytics, U.S. consumers set a record by spending $41.1 billion online during Cyber Five 2024, marking an 8.2% increase from last year’s total of $38 billion. For all of November through Cyber Monday (Nov. 1 through Dec. 2), consumers spent $131.5 billion online, a notable 9% rise over 2023.
Adobe compiles its data by analyzing ecommerce transactions across more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.
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Cyber Monday sets a record
As in past years, Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day among the Cyber Five — and for the year. U.S. online sales for the day were $13.3 billion, up 7.3% compared 2023. During the peak hours, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST, Cyber Monday shoppers spent $15.8 million online every minute, Adobe says.
Toys sold exceptionally well online during Cyber Monday. Adobe reports that toy sales on that day were 680% higher than on an average day in October 2024 — a comparison Adobe uses to measure the impact of the holiday season. Meanwhile, online sales of personal care products were 530% compared to an average October day. By the same measure, online jewelry sales were up 478%, appliances sales gained 464%, electronics gained 452%, and apparel sales grew 392%.
A significant development was artificial intelligence chatbots — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, more — a still small but fast-growing marketing channel. Adobe found that traffic to retail websites from chatbots increased an astounding 1,950% on Cyber Monday from 2023.
In addition, Adobe says sales attributed to “affiliates and partners,” which include social media influencers, represented 20.3% of Cyber Monday sales.
Adobe found that consumers made a record $991.2 million in Cyber Monday purchases using buy-now pay-later, up 5.5% year over year. Most (75.2%) of those BNPL transactions took place on mobile devices.
Thanksgiving, Black Friday
While Cyber Monday was record-setting, Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) and Black Friday (Nov. 29) also grew from the prior year, Adobe says. Thanksgiving online sales reached $6.1 billion, up 8.8% compared with 2023’s Turkey Day. Online sales on Black Friday hit $10.8 billion, up 10.2% from the comparable day last year.
“Early discounts were strong enough that many consumers felt comfortable hitting the buy button earlier in Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday becoming ‘last call’ for shoppers to take advantage of big holiday deals,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement.
Adobe expects online sales for the 2024 holiday season (Nov. 1 through Dec. 31) to reach $240.8 billion, up 8.4% from $222.1 billion in 2023.
Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation’s annual survey confirmed shoppers were out in force during the Cyber Five.
NRF estimates a record 197 million Americans shopped (online and offline) in the 5 days, surpassing NRF’s initial expectations of 183.4 million. Online shoppers totaled 124.3 million, down from 134.2 million last year, while 126 million consumers shopped in-store, up from 121.4 million in 2023.
More mobile
Adobe predicts 2024 will be the “most mobile” year for online holiday sales, and so far, it has. From Nov. 1 through Dec. 2, Adobe says 53.1% of online purchases — totaling $69.8 — came from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). This is 14.1% higher than in 2023 and reflects the growing mobile shopping trend.
On Cyber Monday, Adobe says 57% of online purchases — $7.6 billion — were on mobile, compared to 33% in 2019, five years ago.
Consumers appear confident
With about 20 shopping days left until Christmas, consumers’ moods could determine a mediocre versus a good year for retailers. Two days before Thanksgiving, The Conference Board, a business think tank, released a report indicating consumers are in a spending mood.
The group’s Consumer Confidence Index increased in November to its highest level since July 2023, marking the second consecutive month of increased optimism. The index grew to 111.7, up 2.1 points from 109.6 in October. A level above 100 generally indicates consumers are confident about the economy, which bodes well for the retail industry.
