US Online Sales Surpass $3B On Black Friday; Sets New Record

Retailers will have something to cheer about with Black Friday sales online surpassing the $3 billion mark for the first time ever this past weekend.

That’s according to Adobe, which released data that measured online transactions and also found that the strong showing during Black Friday was buoyed by a record $1.1 billion in sales of smartphones and tablets. But it’s not only retailers that are singing holiday tunes. The strong sales should also benefit Amazon and other retailers hawking their wares online during Cyber Monday today (Nov. 28). According to a report, Adobe is projecting 2016 will be the biggest Cyber Monday ever. Adobe is forecasting sales of more than $3.3 billion online in the U.S. alone.

“The negative impact on online shopping we saw following the election has not been fully made up, but consumers are back online and shopping,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director of Adobe Digital Insights, in the report. “As spending ramps up on Black Friday, we are back on track. We still expect Cyber Monday to surpass Black Friday and become the largest online sales day in history with $3.36 billion.”

According to Adobe’s data, 56 percent of the traffic to retail websites during Black Friday were via mobile devices, and 40 percent of Black Friday sales were conducted on a mobile device. “Large retailers (those in Internet Retailer’s top 100) have seen twice the growth in online sales compared to small retailers since the beginning of the season. Retailers that have invested in mobile, email and social have seen 30 percent more sales on average and 25 percent higher average order values,” said Gaffney in the report.

For the Black Friday weekend, Adobe found the top-selling electronics included Apple iPads, Samsung 4K TVs, Apple Macbook Airs, LG TVs and Microsoft Xbox.