The 2024 holiday shopping season saw a record $241.4 billion in online spending, an 8.7% increase from the previous year. As inflation continued to press on consumers, a combination of competitive discounts, convenience, and a shift to mobile shopping drove growth.
According to Adobe’s (ADBE+0.14%) annual report, shopping from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 was the “most mobile of all time,” with smartphones driving 54.5% of online purchases, up from 51.1% in 2023. The shift was compounded by flexible payment options like “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) services, which saw a record $18.2 billion in transactions. A major chunk of BNPL purchases (79.1%) were made via smartphones.
Vivek Pandya, Adobe’s lead analyst, said the 2024 holiday season demonstrated how “e-commerce is being reshaped by a consumer who prefers to buy items on smaller screens and use generative AI to shop more efficiently.”
Adobe’s data, which analyzed over 1 trillion visits to retail sites, 100 million products, and 18 product categories, offers a comprehensive view into the state of U.S. e-commerce. This insight comes from Adobe Experience Cloud, a platform many of the top 100 U.S. internet retailers rely on to personalize and measure online shopping.
The key holiday shopping period – including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas – saw consumers focused on electronics, apparel, and furniture/home goods. According to Adobe, these categories led the way in sales. Popular items included TVs, Bluetooth headphones, and fitness trackers. In apparel, puffer jackets, boots, and socks were top sellers, while the furniture/home category saw gains in holiday decor, bedding, and blankets.
Meanwhile, with grocery prices still high, consumers took the opportunity to stock up. Groceries sales hit $21.5 billion, up 12.9% when compared to 2023. Cosmetics also saw a massive increase, reaching $7.7 billion – up 12.2% year-over-year – as consumers grew more comfortable buying these items online. Other categories, like toys, generated $8.2 billion, up 7.8% when compared to the same period a year ago.
Discounts played a pivotal role in driving sales. Shoppers, increasingly price-sensitive due to inflation, opted to “trade up” to higher-ticket items, partly attracted by discounts of up to 30% on electronics and toys.
Generative AI-powered shopping assistants also gained traction this season. A 1,300% increase in traffic to retail sites was driven by AI chatbots, reflecting the growing reliance on these tools to quickly find deals. According to Adobe, 7 in 10 consumers who used AI for shopping reported it enhanced their experience, particularly in locating the best prices for specific products.
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