Consumer Behavior

Holiday shoppers tapping mobile device to buy, desktop for returns

Photo: Adobe Stock

December 22, 2025

American consumers are embracing mobile devices when it comes to holiday shopping and using desktop devices when it comes to making returns.

Those are two findings from Adobe's first set of data relating to shopping behaviors.

So far this season (Nov 1. to Dec. 12), 39.1% of returns happened on a mobile device (vs. desktop), while 52.4% of overall online spend was driven by mobile, according to a press release.

Additional data findings include:

• So far this holiday season (time frame: Nov. 1 to Dec. 12), returns were down 2.5% versus the comparable period last year. In the 7 days following Cyber Week, returns were down 0.1%.
• In the days following Christmas Day (Dec. 26 to Dec. 31), returns are expected to rise by 25% to 35% compared to levels in the season thus far (Nov. 1 to Dec. 12). Returns are also set to remain elevated through the first two weeks of January, up 8% to 15%.
• Consumers have already spent $187.3 billion so far this season (Nov. 1 to Dec. 12), which represents 6.1% growth YoY.
• Season to date (Nov. 1 to Dec. 12), purchases for the home remains a big growth driver. Sales of refrigerators and freezers were up 400% (compared to average spending levels in October 2025), along with home security products (up 380%), washers and dryers (up 380%) and holiday decor (up 350%). Other hot sellers include video games (up 360%), puzzles & boxed games (up 330%), smartwatches (up 330%) and headphones and speakers (up 320%).
• Season to date (Nov. 1 to Dec. 12), the flexible payment method has been leveraged for $13.9 billion in online spend, which represents 6.0% growth YoY. In an Adobe survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers (conducted Nov. 2025), respondents said they were most likely to use BNPL for electronics, apparel, toys and furniture purchases.