Online sales set Black Friday record

Online sales for Black Friday set a record this year with consumers spending $9.2 billion, according to Adobe Analytics.

That is a gain of 2.3% year-over-year.

Tech gifts have been very popular so far with sales rising 221% above a regular day in October this year.

Among the top sellers were smart home items and audio equipment.

Toys are also hot items, rising 235%. Gaming remained a popular category as well.

Discounts helped boost sales with the biggest savings seen among apparel, toys, sporting goods and televisions.

Mobile shopping remains a big story, with Black Friday hitting a new record: 48% of online sales came from smartphones, up from 44% last year.

According to Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, although Black Friday hit record spending online, they are also seeing more prominent signs of a budget-conscious consumer this year.

Shoppers are embracing the Buy Now Pay Later payment method more this year to be able to buy desired gifts for family and friends.

Shoppers spent $5.3 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, up 2.9% from the holiday last year and setting a record with smartphones accounting for 55% of online sales, up from 51% last year.

Shoppers and retailers got a jump on the season with early deals in October getting consumers to spend over $72 billion online.

On Cyber Monday discounts are expected to peak at 27%.

Adobe expects the five days from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday to generate $34.8 billion in online spend, up 2.8% year-over-year.

Cyber Monday will remain the season’s and year’s biggest online shopping day at $11.2 billion, up 5.1% YoY, foxbusiness.com predicts.