Black Friday Was a Hit Online, Reaching a Record $9.8 Billion in the U.S.

Early Black Friday sales data pointed to a healthy start to the holiday shopping season—at least online.

A Record

Despite industry expectations for slowing retail sales growth overall this year, Adobe said Black Friday online sales in the U.S. reached a record $9.8 billion, a 7.5% year-over-year increase. The analytics firm expects consumers to spend another $10 billion over the weekend and $12 billion on Cyber Monday.

Online sales reached $70.9 billion globally, an 8% increase from Black Friday last year, according to data from Salesforce. Black Friday global online sales were $65.3 billion last year.

In the U.S., online sales increased 9% to $16.4 billion, according to the Salesforce data. A Salesforce spokesperson said the figures beat what the company was expecting.

Electronics

Adobe said electronics were a major growth driver this year, and called out smartwatches, TVs, and audio equipment as popular purchases. Other hot sellers included toys such as Barbie Fashionista dolls and KidKraft play sets; gaming consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X; and videos Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Footwear, health and beauty, skincare, and sporting goods were all high-performing categories this year, Salesforce said.

Shopify, which counts both online and offline sales from its merchants, said global sales increased 22% year over year to a record $4.1 billion.

The data follow on a solid Thanksgiving Day performance for retailers. Adobe estimated that a record $5.6 billion was spent online on Thursday, up 5.5% year over year.

Online

And the shopping weekend isn’t over. Adobe sees another $10 billion in U.S. sales across Saturday and Sunday, with Cyber Monday bringing in a record $12 billion. Shoppers were expected to do about a sixth of all their online holiday shopping between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

About E. J. McKay

E.J.McKay is a Shanghai-headquartered investment bank with a special focus on mergers & acquisitions. We are one of the most long standing independent investment banks in China, with core business of mergers & acquisitions and financing advisory.