Online holiday spending increases 30%

With many people choosing not to venture out to stores to buy gifts, the holiday season had a record-breaking $188.2 billion in U.S. online purchases, which represents more than 30% growth from the year before.

According to Adobe Analytics, average daily online revenue exceeded $3.1 billion during the holiday season from November through December, up from $2.3 billion in 2019.

For the first time, every day of the shopping season exceeded $1 billion in online sales, fulfilling expectations that the coronavirus pandemic would push consumers to spend a record amount on holiday items from the safety of their homes.

“In light of the pandemic, digital has become the primary way for people to connect, work, be entertained and shop, helping set online spending records for the holiday season,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement.

Online revenue levels increased over Thanksgiving week and then set records Black Friday and Cyber Monday at $9 billion and $10.8 billion, respectively, he said.

Schreiner predicted online spending will stay high at least through the early part of this year.

During the holidays, groceries, appliances and books saw major spending boosts compared with more incremental jumps for toys and jewelry.

Shopping with smartphones accounted for 40% of the holiday season’s online growth compared with 11% growth year over year, according to Adobe.

For the first time ever, more than half of daily online spending on Christmas Day came from smartphones.