Holiday spending is showing some higher than expected momentum — to this point, at the very least, based on reports emanating Tuesday on the important thing stretch from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday.

Adobe reported Tuesday that customers spent a complete of $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday, up 9.6 percent year-over-year and surpassing the software giant’s initial projection of $12 billion.

Shopify, which powers the e-commerce sites of brands and retailers world wide, reported Tuesday that from the beginning of Black Friday through Cyber Monday its merchants totaled $9.3 billion in sales, representing a 24 percent increase from the $7.5 billion through the same period in 2022.

In one other positive report, the National Retail Federation said a record 200.4 million consumers shopped over the five-day holiday weekend period, surpassing last yr’s record of 196.7 million. The figures, based on its survey together with Prosper Insights & Analytics, surpassed NRF’s expectations of 182 million shoppers.

“The surge in consumer demand could be attributed to 2 aspects — deep discounting on items resembling clothing, personal care, toys, shoes and electronics, and more consumers turning to purchase now, pay later options to assist finance their shopping,” said Sudip Mazumder, senior vp, retail Industry lead, North America at digital consultancy Publicis Sapient.

Amazon revealed Tuesday that its prolonged Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping event, which kicked off Nov. 17 and continued through Nov. 27, was its biggest in comparison with the identical 11-day period ending on Cyber Monday in previous years. “Customers world wide purchased greater than 1 billion items on Amazon, with shoppers saving nearly 70 percent more on Amazon through the 11 days of deals in comparison with the identical period last yr,” the corporate said. Amazon will likely be dropping latest deals day-after-day through Dec. 24, including as much as 30 percent off Keurig coffee brewers, Hasbro toys, DeWalt tools and Sony headphones.

“The 2023 holiday shopping season began with plenty of uncertainty, as consumers shifted their spending to services, while coping with rising costs across different facets of their lives. The record online spending across Cyber Week, nonetheless, shows the impact that discounts can have on consumer demand, especially with quality products that drove plenty of impulse shopping,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in an announcement.

“The five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday represents among the busiest shopping days of the yr and reflects the continued resilience of consumers and strength of the economy,” NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay said in his statement. “Shoppers exceeded our expectations with a sturdy turnout.”

In a press conference, Shay said the turnout spoke to not only how consumers felt about spending but additionally to the deals offered by retailers and the favorable weather through Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, which was largely dry, sunny and cooler than earlier within the month in many of the country.

The NRF indicated that 121.4 million people visited physical retail locations either to browse or purchase, barely lower than the 122.7 million in 2022. Internet buyers totaled 134.2 million, up from 130.2 million last yr. 

In accordance with the NRF/Prosper survey, Black Friday continued as the preferred day for in-store shopping, with 76.2 million shoppers opting to go to bricks-and-mortar locations, up from 72.9 million in 2022.

NRF added that about 59 million consumers shopped in stores on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, down from 63.4 million last yr. On par with last yr, 78 percent of Saturday shoppers shopped specifically for Small Business Saturday.   

NRF also concluded that Black Friday was also the preferred day for online shopping, though Adobe disagreed, characterizing Cyber Monday as the largest volume online day of the yr. On Monday, Shopify expected online sales of its merchants on Cyber Monday to surpass the $4.1 billion generated on Black Friday.

In accordance with the NRF, 90.6 million U.S. consumers shopped online on Black Friday, up from 87.2 million in 2022. By comparison, about 73 million consumers shopped online on Cyber Monday, down barely from 77 million last yr.  

The highest destinations for Thanksgiving weekend shoppers were online (44 percent), grocery stores and supermarkets (42 percent), shops (40 percent), clothes and accessories stores (36 percent) and electronics stores (29 percent).

Consumers, the NRF indicated, spent $321.41 on average through the five-day period consistent with $325.44 last yr. About $226.55, or 70 percent, was spent specifically on gifts. The highest gifts purchased were clothes and accessories, which were bought by 49 percent of those surveyed, followed by toys at 31 percent, then gift cards, 25 percent; books, video games and other media, 23 percent, and private care or beauty items 23 percent.

“Over the course of the weekend, consumers were in a position to find great deals on holiday gifts and other items they wanted,” said Prosper executive vp of strategy Phil Rist. “This yr is the primary time personal care and sweetness items were among the many top five hottest gifts purchased over Thanksgiving weekend, with nearly one-quarter of shoppers purchasing these things.”

In other NRF findings, consumers reported that on average, 55 percent of their Thanksgiving weekend purchases were specifically driven by sales and promotions, up from 52 percent in 2022. One other 31 percent said a limited-time sale or promotion convinced them to make a purchase order they were hesitant about, up from 29 percent last yr.  

Much like last yr, as of Thanksgiving weekend, 85 percent of consumers had began holiday shopping and were about halfway, or 48 percent, done to this point.

NRF, which defines the vacation season as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, has forecast that vacation spending is predicted to grow between 3 and 4 percent, totaling $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion. Most other forecasters are also in that range or near it. The NRF/Prosper survey of three,498 adult consumers was conducted Nov. 22 to 26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percentage points.

Shay said the Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday consequence bodes well for Christmas, though other retail executives have told WWD that the outcomes of the five-day stretch don’t necessarily reflect what’s ahead. Retailers expect a deep lull in gift purchasing for the remaining of this week right until about 10 days before Christmas and with discounting a giant factor, they continue to be uncertain concerning the ultimate consequence.

In accordance with Adobe, on Cyber Monday apparel was a transparent winner, with online sales growing 189 percent in comparison with a mean day in October 2023. Other categories with strong demand were appliances, up 166 percent; toys, up 140 percent, in addition to furniture, up 129 percent; electronics, up 103 percent; jewelry, up 99 percent, and sporting goods, up 95 percent.

Top sellers on Cyber Monday were toys resembling Hot Wheels, Mario Kart, Disney Pixar Cars, Disney Junior Minnie Mouse and playsets, and Legos. Top-selling gaming consoles included Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. Top games included Spiderman 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, NBA 2K24, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Other top sellers were skincare gift sets, small kitchen appliances, TVs, smartwatches, activity trackers and Bluetooth headphones, Adobe reported.

Adobe also said that on Cyber Monday, “buy now pay later” usage hit an all-time high, contributing $940 million in online spend, up a “staggering” 42.5 percent year-over-year.

“BNPL accounted for about $390 million in online shopping on Thanksgiving, up from 7.5 percent a yr ago,” Mazumder observed. “Moreover, about 80 percent of all online orders on Black Friday used standard shipping, suggesting consumers could also be selecting cheaper success options on account of inflation. While many retailers may even see improved top-line performance based on solid consumer demand, the actual winners will likely be those that can protect the underside line through tight inventory management and a streamlined supply chain.”

Adobe also indicated that Cyber Week — Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday — brought in $38 billion overall, up 7.8 percent year-over-year. It was bolstered by record spending online during Thanksgiving ($5.6 billion, up 5.5 percent), Black Friday ($9.8 billion, up 7.5 percent) and over the weekend ($10.3 billion), up 7.7 percent.

Season-to-date — Nov. 1 to Nov. 27 — U.S. consumers have spent $109.3 billion online, up 7.3 percent. Adobe expects the total holiday season, defined as Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, will hit $221.8 billion, growing 4.8 percent.

On Cyber Monday, discounts were strong across the vast majority of categories tracked by Adobe with computers at 24 percent in comparison with 20 percent last yr; televisions at 19 percent versus 17 percent last yr, and apparel at 23 percent versus 21 percent last yr. Discounts for toys, nonetheless, got here in below last yr’s levels at 27 percent versus 34 percent a yr ago.

While there’s been several seasons of inflation, Adobe reported consumer spending figures this season have also been driven by net-new demand, not simply higher prices. The Adobe Digital Price Index, which tracks online prices across 18 product categories, shows that e-commerce prices have fallen for over a yr now and were down 6 percent year-over-year as of last October, though consumers proceed to feel the pinch of high prices. Adobe analyzes greater than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million stock keeping units and 18 product categories.

Shopify, based on feedback from its merchants for the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period, indicated the next results: