Thanksgiving Day E-Commerce Sales Increase 14.5% YoY

According to Adobe Analytics data, Thanksgiving Day shopping hit new records for both large and small retailers. Consumers spent $4.2 billion, a 14.5 percent increase year-over-year, making this the first time Thanksgiving has surpassed $4 billion in sales. Leading online retailers saw a 244 percent boost in sales on Thanksgiving Day, while smaller retailers saw a 61 percent increase. Mobile continued to play a large role in the holiday's sales growth. Almost half (44.9 percent) of sales came from smartphones, an increase of 24.4 percent over last year.

Total Retail's Take: The trend of the holiday shopping season beginning on Thanksgiving Day (and not Black Friday) continued in earnest this year, with record-breaking online sales yesterday. The emergence of Thanksgiving Day as a prime shopping event, both online and offline, has its critics, but as long as consumers keep spending, it's wise for retailers to join the fray, particularly online.

“Thanksgiving soared past $4 billion in spend for the first time, and has fast become a favored day by consumers for accelerating their holiday spending and shopping efforts," said Jason Woosley, vice president of commerce product and platform at Adobe. "By stepping up discounts and awareness of Thanksgiving sales, large retailers were able to unlock a three x boost in revenue. Don’t expect the momentum to slow down anytime soon; with $7.5 billion in online spend projected for Black Friday, it’s clear that the largest gains for retailers and shoppers have yet to come.”