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Black Friday is upon us, but online shoppers have already spent more than $75 billion this holiday season, according to data from Adobe Analytics.
Between Nov. 1 and 24, consumers spent $77.4 billion online, of which $17.7 billion was for electronics—an 11.4% year-over-year jump. That’s set to increase in the coming days, with the average discount on electronics going up from 10.9% to 30%, according to Adobe, which expects the biggest discounts for television sets on Black Friday and computers on Nov. 30.
The first 24 days of November also saw an increased use of the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payment method. Transactions worth $5.7 billion were made using BNPL, and 79.1% of those were made via mobile apps. Adobe expects BNPL to fuel more purchases during Cyber Week.
Most of us will be making these purchases on phones or tablets; 51.6% of all online holiday shopping this month happened via a mobile device, Adobe says. That’s about $39.9 billion so far, and the number is expected to hit a record $128.1 billion for the full holiday season.
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The use of generative AI for shopping has also seen a spike. Adobe’s survey in September 2024 found that seven in 10 shoppers used chatbots to enhance their shopping experience, and two out of five planned to carry that forward to the holiday season. Interestingly, 20% of respondents said they use AI to find the best deals.
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“The holiday season is off to a strong start, and we see a consumer willing to splurge on more expensive items in categories from electronics to appliances, partly in response to persistent discounts,” says Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights. “Shoppers are also embracing new ways to shop online this season, from the rise in mobile shopping that will again eclipse desktop, to the use of generative AI-powered chatbots as a shopping assistant.”
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