Online Sales Surge on Thanksgiving Day

U.S. consumers spent more than $1.52 billion online by Thanksgiving evening, and more shoppers went to stores this year after two weak holiday seasons as retailers opened their doors early on the eve of Black Friday. At the start of the holiday shopping season consumer spending rose 16.8 percent year-over-year until 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracked 80 percent of online transactions at the top 100 U.S. retailers.

Total Retail's Take: Analysts forecasted a strong holiday season for retailers, and if the first day is any indication of how the next five weeks are going to play out, they're going to be proven correct. The National Retail Federation is projecting that sales for November and December will rise 3.6 percent to 4 percent this year vs. a 4 percent increase last year. Non-store sales, which include online sales, are expected to rise 11 percent to 15 percent to about $140 billion. And continuing a greater trend, more shoppers completed purchases via their phones on Thanksgiving Day (perhaps after relaxing on the couch after dinner). Mobile accounted for 46 percent of online traffic, while traffic from desktop and laptop computers declined 11 percent and nearly 6 percent, respectively, according to Adobe's data.