American consumers shelled out $11.8 billion online this Black Friday, according to Adobe Analytics, which monitors over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail websites.
This marks a new high—up from $10.8 billion spent the previous year. Between 10 AM and 2 PM, online shoppers reportedly spent $12.5 million every minute. Forbes mentions that Adobe noted in a statement that these figures demonstrate that Black Friday has become “a major e-commerce moment,” as more people opt to shop from home for deals.
Looking ahead, Adobe predicts that Cyber Monday, just two days away on December 1, will surpass Black Friday with an estimated $14.2 billion in online spending, according to Reuters.
Insights from firms like Adobe and Salesforce can offer early signs of overall holiday shopping trends. Adobe forecasts total holiday spending to reach $253.4 billion this year, compared to $241.1 billion in 2024.
Salesforce reported tracking $79 billion in global spending on Black Friday, with $18 billion of that amount coming from the U.S.—marking year-over-year increases of 6% and 3%, respectively. However, it appears that this growth might be less about heightened consumer interest and more about rising prices; Salesforce data shows prices increased by an average of 7%, while order volumes dipped by 1%.
Both Adobe and Salesforce are also seeing an increasing impact of AI in holiday shopping. For instance, Salesforce indicated that between Thanksgiving and Black Friday, AI and AI agents drove $22 billion in global sales, though the specifics of this influence remain somewhat ambiguous.
The comparisons between online trends and in-store shopping at brick-and-mortar locations are less clear. RetailNext informed Forbes that in-store traffic is down 3.4% nationwide, while Pass_by reported a 1.17% increase in overall foot traffic, with department stores seeing an even more notable rise of 7.9%.
