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Consumers spent a record $241.4 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024, an 8.7% increase from the same period a year earlier, Adobe Analytics reports. During this period, single-day online sales totaled more than $4 billion on 15 days, up from 11 days in 2023.
Smart phones accounted for 54.5% of online transactions for the period, up from 51.1% a year earlier. Mobile shopping peaked on Christmas Day, accounting for 65% of online sales, compared to 63% from a year ago. Overall, mobile shoppers spent $131.5 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31st.
Adobe tracked more than 1 trillion visits to retail e-commerce sites in the United States, 100 million shopkeeping units, and 18 product categories.
Discounts played a big role in driving holiday-shopping sales. For every 1% decrease in price, demand increased by 1.029% compared to the 2023 holiday shopping season, Adobe says. The increase in sales from discounts increased online spending $2.25 billion during the period. The increased sales from discounts are factored into the overall spending during the 2024 holiday shopping period, Adobe adds.
Discounts drove shoppers to purchase higher-ticket items in categories such as electronics, appliances, and sporting goods. Discounts for electronics peaked at 30.1%, down slightly from 31% in 2023, while discounts for toys peaked a 28%, unchanged from a year earlier.
Artificial intelligence played a key role in driving online traffic, as the number of shoppers clicking through to an e-commerce site from an AI-powered chatbot increased 13-fold from a year ago. The uptick shows the value chatbots are playing as shopping assistants, even though the number of shoppers using AI-powered chatbots remains modest, Adobe says.
Overall, consumers are welcoming generative AI as part of the online-shopping experience. A September 2024 survey by Adobe of 5,000 U.S. consumers revealed seven in 10 shoppers who used generative AI believe it enhances their shopping experience. In addition, 20% of respondents turn to generative AI to find the best deals, while 19% use the technology to quickly find specific items online and 15% use it to get brand recommendations.
Buy now, pay later remains a popular payment option for online holiday shoppers, with BNPL volume totaling $18.2 billion during the holiday season, a 9.6% increase from a year earlier. Cyber Monday set a record for BNPL spending, with online shoppers taking out $991.2 million in BNPL loans, up 5.5% from 2023.
Electronics was the most popular product category for BNPL, at 57% of volume, followed by apparel (51%), video games (36%), and toys 30%), according to Adobe.
Shoppers’ use of curbside pickup during the holidays totaled 17.5% of online volume, down from 18.4% a year earlier. Use of curbside pickup peaked on Dec. 23, accounting for 37.8% of online orders that day.
“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,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, says in a statement. “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.”
