On a single Monday evening, American shoppers spent an astonishing $15.8 million every minute, culminating in a two-hour shopping marathon that shattered previous records. The five-day shopping bonanza that spanned from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday saw consumers parting with a staggering $13.3 billion, marking a 7.3% increase from the year prior, as reported by Adobe Analytics.

Despite ongoing inflation concerns, the allure of holiday season discounts has propelled spending to new heights. Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a record-breaking $41.1 billion was spent, surpassing the previous year's figures.

"Cyber Monday continued to hold the title of the largest online shopping day of the season and the year," stated Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. "However, the year-over-year growth was more pronounced on Thanksgiving and Black Friday." Adobe's data revealed that online expenditures on Thanksgiving and Black Friday surged by 8.8% and 10.2% respectively. Retailers' early discounts have encouraged earlier purchases this year, with Cyber Monday emerging as a final opportunity to capitalize on holiday deals.

Adobe's projections indicate that holiday spending from November 1 to December 31 is on track to exceed $240 billion, an 8.4% increase from the previous year. The Cyber Monday sales records were further bolstered by the significant shift towards mobile shopping, with mobile devices accounting for $7.6 billion in sales. This year, 57% of all online sales were conducted via mobile devices, a stark contrast to the 33% seen in 2019, reflecting the soaring popularity of mobile shopping.

According to Adobe, toys were the most sought-after items, with Elf on the Shelf dolls, Lego sets, and Harry Potter figurines topping the list of best-selling products on Cyber Monday. Consumer electronics were also among the top sellers, with shoppers snatching up computers, headphones, speakers, electric scooters, and smartwatches. Gaming consoles, including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch OLED, were particularly popular.

Discounts were the name of the game on Cyber Monday, with apparel discounts peaking at over 23% off and TVs and computers at nearly 22% off, as per Adobe's data. The company anticipates that discounts on computers could reach up to 18% off through the end of the year. The focus on consumer electronics comes in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's announcement of proposed 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada, as well as additional tariffs on China. A report from the Consumer Technology Association revealed that approximately 78% of all consumer smartphones and 87% of consoles were imported from China in 2023.

"In the consumer electronics sector, there is hardly anything that is not imported," remarked Best Buy CEO Corie Barry during the company's earnings call. "Customers inevitably bear some of the tariff costs. These are essential goods, and higher prices are detrimental." In addition to electronics, discounts on jewelry, personal care products, and clothing also attracted consumers.

As mobile shopping surged, more consumers turned to social media influencers for guidance, according to Adobe. For U.S. retail sites, the revenue share from affiliates and partners, including social media influencers, was 20.3% on Cyber Monday, a nearly 7% increase from the previous year. Companies also leveraged AI chatbots to assist consumers, with Amazon's Rufus being a notable example. Adobe reported a nearly 2,000% increase in traffic to retail sites from chatbots on Cyber Monday.

The "buy now, pay later" payment programs contributed a record high of nearly $1 billion in spending on Cyber Monday, with approximately 75% of these transactions occurring via mobile devices. Cyber Monday shopping was not limited to the U.S.; global sales reached $49.7 billion, a 3% increase from the previous year, according to Salesforce data. Salesforce's U.S. Cyber Monday figures, however, painted a slightly different picture, recording $12.8 billion in sales, up 2% from the previous year.