Cyber Monday spending hits record $7.9B

Dive Brief:

Cyber Monday spending rose 19.3% year over year to a record $7.9 billion by the end of the day, making it the biggest online shopping day of all time in the U.S. — well past last year's $6.6 billion (also a record), according to Adobe Analytics data emailed to Retail Dive and updated online.
Smartphone transactions surged 55.6% year over year, with a total of 2.2 billion transactions, the highest ever year over year growth in that measure. This year was the first time that more than half of visits (54.3%) came from mobile devices, Adobe said. More than a third (35.9%) of the day's revenue came from mobile (27.7% from smartphones, 8.2% from tablets) an 18.3 % year-over-year increase, according to the report.
Click-and-collect services also grabbed attention and dollars, rising 65% year over year (a record increase), according to the report. Spending continued into Tuesday, with Adobe expecting the online total for the day to rise 26% to $2.9 billion.

Dive Insight:

During Cyber Monday's 24 hours, American consumers together spent 95 million hours shopping online (the equivalent of 11,000 thousand years), Adobe said.

The increases in mobile transactions and revenue and in buy online, pickup in store services were notable, according to Adobe Digital Insights director Taylor Schreiner.

"Converting mobile traffic to sales has long been a thorn in the side of retailers, but investments in making the experience faster and easier have paid off," he said in a statement. "Additionally, buy online pickup in-store saw a record 65% increase, signaling that retailers are increasingly fulfilling consumer expectations for integrated cross-channel experiences."

The day's numbers may have been boosted by additional promotional activity from several brands this year. Ralph Lauren, Club Monaco, CK.com, Anthropologie and Free People enticed customers with bigger promotions this year compared to last. Meanwhile, Tory Burch, Kate Spade, Fossil Group, Nike, Under Armour, Sally Beauty, Ulta, Bath & Bodyworks, American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap Inc. kept their promotions about the same, according to a note from Instinet analyst Simeon Siegel emailed to Retail Dive.

Americans plan to give a bit more on "Giving Tuesday" this year, according to Adobe. More than three-quarters of shoppers are expected to give to charities this season, and the most popular causes are religious organizations, animal welfare, health causes and humanitarian/disaster relief.