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The record 2022 Black Friday online sales came after another record amount was reached on Thanksgiving shopping.
Computer software company Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE), which tracks sales on retailers’ websites, revealed that a record $9.12 billion was spent by consumers who shopped online during the 2022 Black Friday. Black Friday officially marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the US, after thanksgiving.
Black Friday Online Sales Grows to Record High
Data shows that the overall online sales the day after Thanksgiving, which was on the 24th of November, jumped 2.3% YoY. Electronics sales significantly contributed to the sales spike, increasing 221% compared to any other day in October. Other major contributors to the record were exercise equipment and toys shopping categories. While Toys sales grew 285%, exercise equipment went up 218%.
Shoppers went after gadgets, games, and more. Apple MacBooks, drones, consoles, and gaming consoles are some of the hottest items during the 2022 Black Friday. Others include toys such as Bluey, Fortnite, Funko Pop!, Roblox, and Disney Encanto. Additionally, many users used their mobile phones to place orders like never before. About 48% of online sales were made on smartphones, causing mobile orders to popped 48% YoY.
While some shoppers paid full for their items, others opted for Buy Now Pay Later payments. Many consumers went for flexible payments, especially due to high prices and inflation. Beginning from the 19th of November, Buy Now Pay Later payments jumped 78% over the previous week. Also, revenue for the same payment structure surged 81% during the same period.
These figures signal some assurance for retailers that the coming weeks are going to be profitable even though the 2022 Black Friday sales are over. The Adobe report also said that e-commerce activities would remain strong. It is Cyber Monday, and sales are expected to ramp up to about $11.2 billion, a 5.1% growth over the past year.
Online Shopper Went Wild on Thanksgiving Day
The record 2022 Black Friday online sales came after another record amount was reached on Thanksgiving shopping. Online spending on Thanksgiving Day reached a record of $5.26 billion. This represents a 2.9% addition YoY and a significant increase compared to a typical day spending of about $2 billion to $3 billion. A lead analyst at Adobe, Vivek Pandya, said the surge was not fueled by inflation but demand. He explained further:
“Given the macroeconomic headwinds and backdrop coming into the season for consumers, the big question was, ‘Would the strength of discounts be able to keep demand strong and have it be stable – on par with what we saw last year? What we are seeing is the discount being strong enough to entice consumers to continue to spend.”
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