Black Friday online spending is soaring to new highs as people do more and more of their shopping on their phones
- Black Friday online sales are currently on track to reach $7.4 billion, while Thanksgiving Day sales already beat records by surpassing $4 billion for the first time, according to Adobe Analytics.
- An increasing percentage of these sales are coming from online shopping, with a significant uptick in purchases made on mobile devices. Adobe Analytics found that nearly half of Black Friday sales thus far have come from a smartphone, at a rate 24.4% higher than during the 2018 shopping season.
- Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
With hours still remaining for shoppers to take advantage of Black Friday sales, the annual shopping event is already shattering records.
Black Friday online sales are currently on track to reach $7.4 billion, and shoppers have already spent more than $600 million online as of 9 a.m. ET Friday morning, according to Adobe Analytics. That figure represents an increase of 19.2% over last year. Of these purchases, 44.9% came from a mobile device - indicating that nearly half of online shoppers are making holiday purchases from a smartphone, at a rate 24.4% higher than in 2018.
The rise in mobile sales is on track with Adobe's predictions from earlier this month that smartphones will continue to play a significant role in holiday shopping. The company likened the phenomenon to having a "shopping mall in your pocket."
Early sales on Thanksgiving Day also beat records this year. According to Adobe Analytics, sales surpassed $4 billion for the first time, reaching $4.2 billion by midnight - a 14.5% increase over last year.
Jason Woosley, vice president of commerce product and platform at Adobe, said in a statement that Thanksgiving Day continues to position itself as "a favored day by consumers for accelerating th
eir holiday spending and shopping efforts."
According to Sucharita Kodali, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, the growth of online sales on Black Friday is partially attributed to the wider variety of products available through e-commerce channels.
"[There are] lots of items available at deep discounts, and more variety online too, like full assortment of colors and sizes," Kodali wrote in an email to Business Insider.
Jono Bacon - a retail consultant who works with clients like Microsoft, Sony, and Dyson - told Business Insider that the growth of online shopping on Black Friday is a response to several factors, including major e-commerce companies like Amazon starting to promote holiday deals earlier and earlier in the season, as well as general fatigue over the brick-and-mortar doorbuster.
"Consumers are growing tired of the retail store rat race - finding a parking spot, navigating the crowds, battling the cold, and ultimately finding deals often suboptimal to online offers," Bacon said.
Additionally, he said the growing the rise of retailers like REI closing their doors on Black Friday continues to prompt shoppers to seek holiday deals online.
"There has been a significant trend in retailers closing on Thanksgiving and Black Friday due to social pressure to give their staff the time off," he said. "Online doesn't experience these limitations: consumers can get better offers, more conveniently."
Moving into the rest of the holiday weekend and Cyber Monday, Adobe Analytics anticipates that sales momentum will continue to pick up - particularly online and on mobile devices.
"Don't expect the momentum to slow down anytime soon; with $7.5 billion in online spend projected for Black Friday, it's clear that the largest dollar gains for retailers and shoppers have yet to come," Woosley wrote in a statement.
- Read more about Black Friday:
- I went behind-the-scenes at a Best Buy on Thanksgiving to see what it's really like to work during Black Friday, retail's 'Super Bowl'
- Costco's website crashed for several hours over Thanksgiving, and experts estimate it could have cost the retailer nearly $11 million in sales
- Black Friday has been a shopping bonanza for the last two decades. Here's how it has evolved over the years.
- Furious shoppers say Walmart is selling out of major deals before Black Friday starts, with Apple Watches selling out in minutes
