Analysts Predict Cyber Monday Sales to Reach Record $11.2 Billion

The U.S. Christmas spending season opened with a bang on Black Friday with consumers spending a record $9.12 billion online shopping, according to Adobe, which track’s sales on retailers’ websites.

Adobe also reported that overall online sales last Friday were up 2.3% year over year, with toys leading the way with a surge of 285% over an average day in November. Electronics were also a major contributor, up 285%, as was exercise equipment, up 218%.

Black Friday shoppers also broke a record for mobile orders, as 48% of online sales were made on smartphones, and increase from 44% last year.

Sales on Thanksgiving also exceeded expectations with consumers shelling out an all-time high of $5.29 billion online, up 2.9% year-over-year. Typically, shoppers spend about $2 billion to $billion on line in a day, according to Adobe.

Rounding out the week, e-commerce activity was expected to remain strong on Saturday and Sunday with Adobe expecting consumers to spend $4.52 billion and $4.99 billion, respectively.

Record Spending Expected to Continue

With Black Friday in the books, consumers are now looking forward to spending even more on Cyber Monday, the biggest U.S. online shopping day. Adobe Analytics is expecting record spending of about $11.2 billion with consumers looking to take advantage of discounts.

Adobe predicts spending on Cyber Monday to rise 5.2% as inflation-weary consumers have been waiting for weeks in the hopes of taking advantage of deep post-Thanksgiving markdowns.

Retailers Hoping for Strong Numbers

Recently, retailers Target, Macy’s and Nordstrom reported a lull in sales in late October and early November as consumer sentiment weakened while inflation hovered near a 40-year high.

However, there seems to be a ray of optimism being fueled ahead of Monday’s big single day shopping event with Target, Macy’s and even Best Buy, now expecting a return to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.