Although many American voters have said in polls the state of the economy is not good, holiday spending is increasing at a rapid rate.
According to Adobe Analytics, 2024 set a record for Cyber Monday with Americans spending $13.3 billion, a 7.3% increase over last year. For the five-day holiday weekend ending Monday, Americans spent $41.1 billion online, an increase of 8.2% over 2023. As of October 2024, the inflation rate was 2.6%, proving that inflation alone was not nearly enough to explain the increase.
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The strong holiday spending is expected to continue. Adobe Analytics projects retail spending to hit $240.8 billion this holiday season, an increase of 8.4% from 2023.
Hot items on Cyber Monday included Elf on the Shelf dolls, Harry Potter Toys and figurines, card and board games, stuffed animals and dolls, LEGO City sets and craft and science kits. Video games units, including PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch OLED, and Meta Quest, and games, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, various Zelda Games, NBA 2k25, and Super Smash Bros, were popular on Cyber Monday.
The exceedingly strong holiday shopping season comes just weeks after U.S. political polls showed a majority of registered voters saying the U.S. economy was in poor shape.
“While Cyber Monday remained the season’s and year’s biggest online shopping day, year-over-year growth was stronger on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, at Adobe Digital Insights. “Early discounts were strong enough that many consumers felt comfortable hitting the buy button earlier on during Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday becoming ‘last call’ for shoppers to take advantage of big holiday deals.”
The National Retail Federation estimates that 197 million shoppers made retail purchases from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, which is slightly down from 200 million shoppers during a record-breaking 2023. The National Retail Federation said more people shopped in-person this year than in 2023, but fewer Americans shopped online than last year.
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“Whether it’s tradition, the deals or simply an activity with friends and family, consumers continue to embrace Thanksgiving holiday weekend shopping,” Prosper Executive Vice President of strategy Phil Rist said. “Additional offerings like free shipping, a limited sale or promotion or a positive review helped convince most shoppers to move items from their shopping carts to the purchase finish line.”
