Holiday Shopping Season Drove a Record $241.4 Billion Online and Rising 8.7% YoY: Adobe

Adobe released online shopping data for the 2024 holiday season, covering the period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024. Based on Adobe Analytics data, the analysis provides the most comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing commerce transactions online, covering over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. Adobe Analytics is part of Adobe Experience Cloud, relied upon by the majority of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S.* to deliver, measure and personalize shopping experiences online.

Record holiday season online, propelled by mobile shopping

Consumers spent $241.4 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, up 8.7% year-over-year (YoY) and setting a new record for e-commerce. 15 days saw consumers spend more than $4 billion in a single day (up from 11 days in 2023). Mobile shopping hit a new milestone, with the majority of online transactions (54.5%) taking place through a smartphone this season (up from 51.1% in 2023); Mobile shopping was highest on Christmas Day (Dec. 25), driving 65% of online sales (63% in 2023).

Of the $241.4 billion spent online this holiday season, over half (54%) was driven by just three categories including electronics ($55.3 billion, up 8.8% YoY), apparel ($45.6 billion, up 9.9% YoY) and furniture/home goods ($29.2 billion, up 6.8% YoY). The strongest growth was observed in the grocery ($21.5 billion, up 12.9% YoY) and cosmetics ($7.7 billion, up 12.2% YoY) categories, as consumers become increasingly comfortable purchasing these goods online. Other categories with notable growth this season included sporting goods ($7.8 billion, up 7.4% YoY) and toys ($8.2 billion, up 7.8% YoY).

Consumer demand driven by competitive prices

Strong discounts this season drew in consumers who have become increasingly price sensitive. Shoppers found great deals in electronics, where discounts peaked at 30.1% off listed price (vs 31% in 2023), as well as toys at 28% (vs 28%), apparel at 23.2% (vs. 24%), computers at 22.8% (vs 24%) and furniture/home goods at 19% (vs 21%). Discounts also hit record highs for televisions at 24.2% (vs 23%), appliances at 19.2% (vs 18%) and sporting goods at 19.5% (vs 18%).

This season, Adobe’s data showed that for every 1% decrease in price, demand increased by 1.029% compared to the 2023 season. This drove an additional $2.25 billion in online spend—a figure factored into the overall $241.4 billion spent online—and shows the stronger response to discounts from price-sensitive shoppers.

This season, the share-of-units-sold for the most expensive goods increased by 21% overall . Within categories, this figure was up 54% in sporting goods, up 48% in electronics, up 35% in appliances, up 32% in personal care products and up 10% in apparel.

“The 2024 holiday season showed that e-commerce is being reshaped by a consumer who now prefers to transact on smaller screens and lean on generative AI-powered services to shop more efficiently,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights. “It presents opportunities for retailers to deliver new services and experiences that capture the attention of consumers, many of whom are now shopping online in different ways.”

‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ usage continues to rise

While consumers drove record spending online, many are giving themselves greater flexibility with their budgets. This season, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) usage hit an all-time high, contributing $18.2 billion in online spend, up 9.6% YoY and representing $1.6 billion more than the last season. Smartphones are the form factor of choice for consumers leveraging this flexible payment method, driving the vast majority (79.1%) of BNPL purchases this season. Additionally, Cyber Monday was the biggest day on record for BNPL, driving $991.2 million (up 5.5% YoY). Per Adobe’s survey, consumers tend to leverage BNPL for purchases in electronics (per 57% of respondents), apparel (51%), video games (36%), groceries (33%), toys (30%), health/beauty (28%) and home/garden (19%).

Impact of inflation

Strong consumer spending online continues to be driven by net-new demand and not higher prices. Adobe’s Digital Price Index shows e-commerce prices have fallen consecutively for 27 months (down 2.6% YoY in Nov. 2024). Adobe figures are not adjusted for inflation, but if online deflation were factored in, growth in consumer spend would be even stronger.