Sales, not adjusted for inflation, rose 5.8% from a year ago, per data from Adobe Analytics, which measures e-commerce performance by analyzing purchases at 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the United States.
While retailers started promotions and discount offers as early as October to induce more sales, turns out inflation-weary shoppers had largely put off their holiday shopping until the Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday in hopes of finding the best deals.
Major retailers including Target, Macy’s and Best Buy have signaled a return to pre-pandemic shopping patterns during traditional single-day shopping events.
Toys were the hottest products on Cyber Monday, their online sales jumped nearly eight-fold compared to an average day in October 2022, according to the Adobe Analytics report.
Electronics sales rose about five-fold, while sporting goods, appliances and books also saw increases over 400%.
Pokemon cards, Hot Wheels, PlayStation 5s, Smart TVs and Apple AirPods were among the best-selling products.
About 196.7 million shoppers made purchases during the five-day holiday period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, the National Retail Federation said on Tuesday.
Canada’s Shopify Inc said its merchants recorded $7.5 billion in sales globally from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.
Still, some experts were not convinced that a bright Cyber Monday was a sign of inflation easing its burden on consumer sentiment.
“Online shopping still makes up only about 15% of all retail sales. So it is not necessarily a great indicator of the health of the economy overall,” said Dan North, senior economist at global trade credit insurer Allianz Trade North America.
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