Black Friday e-commerce spending jumped 7.5 percent from a year earlier, reaching a record $9.8 billion in the U.S., according to a report from Adobe Analytics, further indicating that price-conscious consumers are looking to spend on best deals and search for deals online.
“We’ve seen a very strategic consumer emerge over the last year that’s really trying to take advantage of these days to make the most of discounts,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.
The spike in spending since Black Friday reflects a consumer more willing to spend than in 2022, when fuel and food prices were painfully high.
Pandya noted that impulse purchases may have played a role in Black Friday’s growth since $5.3 billion in online sales came from mobile purchases. He noted that influencers and social media advertising have made it easier for consumers to enjoy spending on their mobile devices.
Still, shoppers are price-sensitive and managing tighter budgets due to last year’s record inflation and interest rates. According to Adobe’s survey, $79 million in sales came from consumers who chose the flexible “Buy Now, Pay Later” payment method to stretch their wallets, up 47 percent from last year.
The best-selling Black Friday categories, Adobe’s report showed, were electronics like smartwatches and televisions, along with toys and games. Meanwhile, home repair tools underperformed. Pandya said that the best sellers are directly correlated with the products that have the best discounts.
Adobe gathers its data by analyzing one trillion US retail website visits, 18 product categories and 100 million unique items. It does not track physical retail transactions.
Mastercard’s analysis of this year’s Black Friday sales showed that in-store sales were up just over 1 percent compared to online sales, which were up more than 8 percent compared to last year.
“I think the paradigm has changed around the Black Friday shopping experience, long lines and things like that,” said Adobe’s Pandya.
