Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, US online sales this Black Friday surged nearly percent to a record $9 billion in the US, according to Adobe Analytics.
This means Black Friday 2020 was the second-largest online spending day in US history, after Cyber Monday in 2019, as per data from Adobe Analytics.
Consumers spent $9 billion on the day after Thanksgiving, which is 21.6 percent higher than the same day last year.
Several Americans were vary of visiting shops and malls, since the US is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
"New consoles, phones, smart devices and TVs that are traditional Black Friday purchases are sharing online shopping cart space this year with unorthodox Black Friday purchases such as groceries, clothes and alcohol, that would previously have been purchased in-store," said Taylor Schreiner, a director at Adobe Digital Insights as quoted by CNBC.
Around 40 percent of sales were conducted over smartphones, and many consumers supported small businesses. Their sales were 545 percent higher on Friday compared to the average day in October.
According to an AFP report, Adobe said 38 percent of consumers said they planned to support smaller local businesses ahead of the year-end holidays.
On November 30, with the usual surge of Cyber Monday spending amplified by the Covid effect, analysts are predicting an all-time record, the report added.
Sales are expected to total from $10.8 billion to $12.7 billion, up by 15 to 35 percent.
With more people working from home, demand has surged for bigger-ticket items such as computers and home fitness machines.
The National Retail Federation projects a 2020 jump of between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent in overall holiday sales from last year, AFP reported.
(With inputs from AFP)
