Many Americans spent retail’s biggest weekend the way they’ve spent the past nine months: at home.

While retail traffic at malls fell markedly on Black Friday, online purchases on Cyber Monday—the Monday after Thanksgiving—hit a record $10.8 billion. That’s a 15% jump over last year—and an impressive result for a retail “holiday” that is only 15 years old.

The numbers come from Adobe Analytics, which garners data from 80 of America’s largest retailers.

Interestingly, Black Friday also saw record-breaking cyber sales. Online spending topped $9 billion on Nov. 28, a 21.6% leap from last year. That makes Black Friday 2020 the second largest online shopping day in U.S. history, just behind this recent Cyber Monday.

Other trends noted by Adobe Analytics:

– “Buy local” seems to be taking hold. Some 44% of consumers said they plan to support small and local retailers this holiday, and 38% said they will deliberately buy at smaller shops.

– Social media is generating more online sales. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, social sites drove 10% of e-tail traffic, a 17% increase over last year.

– Cyber Monday saw strong growth in curbside pickup—which is not surprising, considering many retailers didn’t even offer that option until the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, curbside pickup sales soared 30% over last year, Adobe found.

Despite some encouraging signals, analysts said that the initial data suggests a mixed start to retail’s biggest season, and fretted about a “K-shaped” holiday that might fall short of expectations. They noted that while many consumers have huge savings, a growing number of Americans are worried about rent and even food.

“This is a very bifurcated recovery,” Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR Research, told the Washington Post. “The savings rate is high, but evictions are back on the table and there’s no stimulus money on the horizon. For many people, this is not going to be a pretty Christmas.”

(Image credit: Getty)

 

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