US Online Holiday Spending Sets New Record

US online spending reached a new record over the holiday season, as consumers took advantage of sharp discounts to “trade up,” according to Adobe Analytics. 

Total sales from November 1 to December 31 rose 7% year on year to $257.8 billion, according to data Adobe released Wednesday. The result is higher than the 5.3% year-on-year increase to $253.4 billion Adobe forecast in October. Smartphone purchases represented the majority of transactions, some 56% of the total, versus 54.5% last year.

“This 2025 holiday season, consumers embraced generative artificial intelligence (AI) more than ever as a shopping assistant in their purchasing decisions,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “Competitive discounts and flexible payment options like ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ also contributed to driving record spend… throughout this holiday season.”

As in previous years, Cyber Monday was the biggest e-commerce day of the season, and the year. The 24-hour period experienced a 7% jump, fueling $14.25 billion in online sales, while Cyber Week — Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday — yielded $44.2 billion, up 8%. Black Friday, meanwhile, grew 9% to achieve $11.8 billion, as Thanksgiving Day spending gained 5% to $6.4 billion.

This year, there were 25 days on which consumers spent more than $4 billion, compared to 18 days in 2024, the analytics provider noted. Three categories accounted for over 54% of spending over the holiday period: electronics with a total of $59.8 billion, apparel at $49 billion, and furniture, which garnered $31.1 billion. Electronics and apparel saw high discounting during the shopping season, Adobe reported.

Buy Now Pay Later shopping climbed 10% to contribute $20 billion in e-commerce.

Image: A woman shopping online. (Shutterstock)