U.S. retailers posted a record $11.6 billion U.S. in online sales during Thanksgiving and Black Friday last week.
Shoppers already had nearly a month of sales promotions as retailers look to draw out a holiday season that on paper is six days shorter this year due to a late Thanksgiving. However, estimates from Adobe Analytics predicted the opening weekend of U.S. retailers’ crucial holiday season would set a new record of almost $30 billion U.S. in sales.
Cyber Monday, now the U.S. economy’s biggest online shopping day, is expected to reach $9.4 billion U.S. Amazon.com Inc and other traditional retailers such as Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) have beefed up delivery services to fulfill online orders faster as more customers order over their mobile phones and tablets from home.
The National Retail Federation estimates nearly 69 million Americans will scour the web for deals on everything from iPads and homeware to kids’ toys, and Adobe’s estimate of $9.4 billion U.S. would be a 19% increase on the same day a year ago.
Digital sales this year are also likely to get a big boost from orders through social media platforms like Youtube, WeChat, Instagram and Facebook, according to the Retail Federation.
