Shoppers spent $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, up 7.3% over 2023

U.S. shoppers spent $13.3 billion online on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe Inc., up 7.3% over 2023 and slightly beating the firm’s initial forecast of $13.2 billion.

Adobe ascribed the strong showing to shoppers waiting for the biggest discounts and using buy-now-pay-later loans to splurge on pricey items.

Monday was the busiest online shopping day of the year and capped a strong Cyber Week. Spending during the five-day period, which runs from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, reached $41.1 billion, up 8.2% over the previous year, Adobe said in a statement.

“While Cyber Monday remained the season’s and year’s biggest online shopping day, year-over-year growth was stronger on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” Adobe’s lead analyst Vivek Pandya said. “Early discounts were strong enough that many consumers felt comfortable hitting the buy button earlier on during Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday becoming ‘last call’ for shoppers to take advantage of big holiday deals.”

Retailers generate much of their sales and profit during the holiday shopping season. Analysts are monitoring the results closely to see if lower interest rates and moderating inflation have prompted price-sensitive consumers to boost their spending.

Marquee sale events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been losing their cachet, but retailers often save their best deals for those days since that’s when shoppers expect them. Hot categories this year included toys, jewelry, apparel, sporting goods, personal care, appliances and electronics, according to Adobe, which tracks 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and spending on 100 million products in 18 product categories.

Total online sales for November and December combined are set to reach $240 billion, up 8.4% from last year, according to the firm.