Thanksgiving Day E-Commerce Sales Break Records

Consumers spent $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23), up 5.5 percent year-over-year, highlighting the continued shift to more spending online. In the holiday season so far, consumers have spent $76.7 billion online, up 6.8 percent YoY in the first 23 days of November. Black Friday is expected to bring in $9.6 billion, up 5.7 percent YoY. This according to Adobe Analytics data.

Mobile shopping was a key contributor to e-commerce growth on Thanksgiving, especially between 9 p.m. – midnight PT when online sales peaked, as people took advantage of attractive deals: 59 percent of online sales came through a mobile device, an all-time high for Thanksgiving and representing $3.3 billion in spend (up 14 percent YoY).

Here are some addition highlights from the Adobe Analytics report on Thanksgiving Day online shopping:

• Shoppers saw big discounts for toys yesterday (up to 28 percent), as well as electronics (27 percent) and computers (22 percent). Strong bargains across the board enticed consumers to hit the buy button: Online sales of toys were up 182 percent (compared to average daily sales in October 2023). Other categories showing strong demand include jewelry (up 126 percent), apparel (up 124 percent), electronics (up 113 percent), and personal care products (up 67 percent).
• Buy now pay later (BNPL) usage grows: Consumers continued to embrace flexible payment methods to manage their holiday budgets. On Thanksgiving Day, BNPL drove $390 million in online spend, up 7.5 percent YoY. Adobe expects usage to ramp up today on Black Friday, as well as on Cyber Monday, where BNPL is expected to drive $782 million in spend (the largest on record).
• Interest in curbside pickup service slows: On Thanksgiving, curbside pickup was used in 12.3 percent of all online orders (for retailers that offer the service), down from 13.1 percent last year. Adobe expects curbside pickup to peak between Dec. 22 to Dec. 23, and account for 35 percent to 40 percent of all orders.
• Adobe expects Cyber Week (the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday) will generate $37.2 billion in online spend, up 5.4 percent YoY, representing 16.8 percent share of the full holiday season. Cyber Monday will remain the season’s and year’s biggest online shopping day at $12 billion, up 6.1 percent YoY. Black Friday is expected to bring in $9.6 billion (up 5.7 percent YoY). Thanksgiving Day generated $5.6 billion in online spend (up 5.5 percent YoY).

“Cyber Week is off to a strong start with Thanksgiving driving a record $5.6 billion in online spend as consumers took advantage of strong discounts and continued their shopping plans, virtually,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights. “Mobile shopping hit an all-time high, as shoppers took to their smartphones to get the best deals during holiday gatherings, further solidifying mobile’s growing importance in e-commerce.”