Consumer Behavior

Holiday season online spent hit record-setting level

Photo: Adobe Stock

January 4, 2024

A record $222.1 billion was spent online this holiday season — $10.4 billion more than last year.

The spending was driven by major discounts, the use of mobile devices in shopping and consumers embracing the Buy Now Pay Later payment option, according to an Adobe report.

In fact mobile shopping hit a milestone as it surpassed desktop for the first time and drove 51.1% of online sales, according to a press release on the report's findings.

A total of $123.5 billion was spent online in the month of November (up 6% year over year), bolstered by a strong Cyber Week — the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — which drove $38 billion in spend online (up 7.8% YoY). In December, consumers spent a total of $98.6 billion online (up 3.7% YoY), driven in part by discounts that lingered past Cyber Monday.

The 'Buy Now Pay Later' usage hit an all-time high, contributing $16.6 billion in online spend, up a significant 14% YoY and representing $2.1 billion more than the last holiday season.

"In an uncertain demand environment, retailers leaned on discounting and flexible payment methods to entice shoppers this holiday season," Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, said in the release. "The strategy was effective, driving record spend online during big days like Cyber Monday and Black Friday, and a record 11 days that surpassed $4 billion in daily spend this season."

Curbside pickup also remains popular as it was used in 18.4% of online orders this holiday season, for retailers that offer the service (21% in 2022).