Black Friday online shopping will hit a new record this year, even though consumers headed back to physical stores as the pandemic waned

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Black Friday online shopping will set a new record this year. Just. 

Consumers spent $7.28 billion through 6:00 pm ET, according to Adobe Analytics data. The company expects that when the final tally is in, consumers will spend between $9 billion and $9.2 billion for the day, setting a new record for online sales on Black Friday. Last year, the online total for the same shopping day was $8.92 billion. 

“Some shoppers are returning to physical stores for Black Friday, after two years where pandemic-related anxieties kept many people at home,” Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement. “E-commerce demand has remained strong regardless.” 

Top selling items during the day included Apple Watches, Apple AirPods, smart speakers, smart TVs, digital cameras, espresso machines, and video games including Pokemon Scarlet & Violet and FIFA 23, as well as toys such as Hatchimals and Squishmallows. 

People spent $5.29 billion shopping online on Thursday, an increase of 2.9% from last year and an all-time high, according to Adobe. And 55% of shopping was done on mobile phones this year, and increase of 8% and the first time a majority of people have shopped this way.

“Mobile shopping had struggled to grow for many years, as consumers found the experience lacking compared to desktop,” Pandya said. “Thanksgiving this year has become an inflection point, where smartphones drove real growth and highlights how much these experiences have improved.”

The rise of Thanksgiving as a shopping holiday and retailers releasing discounts on goods earlier and earlier may be affecting Black Friday’s dominance. A year-over-year increase of about 1% suggests people have already been holiday shopping for weeks, as prices on electronics, toys and apparel dropped throughout November.

Cyber Monday is still expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the holiday season and the year. Adobe estimates that people will spend more than $11 billion on Monday, an increase of 5% year-over-year. The entire week between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday will bring in nearly $35 billion, up 2.8% from last year.

During November so far, people have spent $78 billion, according to Adobe. Popular items so far include toys like Squishmallows and Hot Weeks, games like Roblox and FIFA. Apparel and electronics are also popular and continue to be heavily discounted, the report said.