Analysts expect consumer spending during the online retail bonanza known as Cyber Monday to reach $11.6 billion — up 8.4% from the 2021 event — as inflation-weary consumers clicked the buy button Monday on a wide range of discounted products.
Adobe Analytics said Cyber Monday would maintain its streak as the largest online shopping day of the year. The group, a division of Adobe software, estimates Cyber Monday online sales of $11.2 billion to $11.6 billion, up from last year's $10.7 billion.
Meanwhile, Black Friday on Nov. 25 generated a record $9.12 billion in online spending, up 2.3%. Thanksgiving Day brought in $5.3 billion, up 2.9%. Retailers consider Black Friday the second-largest online shopping day of the year.
"Initial data points from Adobe and Salesforce suggest modestly better Black Friday sales than expected," BofA Securities said in a note to clients Monday.
Cyber Monday: More Budget-Conscious Consumers
Popular sale items on Friday included electronics, items for smart homes, audio components, toys and exercise equipment.
"As Black Friday hit record spending online, we're also seeing more prominent signs of a budget-conscious consumer this year," Adobe Digital Insights analyst Vivek Pandya said in his note to clients. "Shoppers are embracing the Buy Now Pay Later payment method more this year to be able to buy desired gifts for family and friends."
Baird analyst Colin Sebastian in a note said, "Significant discounting stimulated higher spending rates, beginning early last week and accelerating through Sunday. That helped to offset slow online sales in October and early/mid-November."
Sales Ahead Of Expectations
"Our checks and third-party data sources suggest e-commerce is tracking a bit ahead of expectations over the key Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping period," Sebastian wrote. "While there are still critical weeks ahead, at this point we are more comfortable with our Q4 estimates for Amazon , eBay, PayPal and Shopify.
Adobe expects Cyber Week (Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday) to generate $34.8 billion in online spending, up 2.8%.
Meanwhile, traffic to malls may have been thinner than expected according to Reuters.
Amazon stock rose 0.6%, closing at 93.95 on the stock market today. EBay dropped 1.6% to 44.33. PayPal fell 0.2% to 79.93, while Shopify climbed 3.4% to 38.03.
Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.
