Cyber Monday shows people are doing more and more of their shopping via smartphone


Cyber Monday purchases via smartphones hit a new record this year. They accounted for 33 percent of all sales, totaling $3 billion — the first day in history with sales through smartphones that high — a 46 percent growth, reports Adobe Analytics. Most visits to retail sites were via smartphone, at 54 percent.
Shopping via smartphone is "outpacing and very much driving overall growth of online sales," reports TechCrunch. Even so, larger purchases that require more research, such as furniture and appliances, are more frequently made on a desktop, per Adobe.
"Consumers are reimagining what it means to shop during the holidays, with smartphones having a breakout season," said Adobe Digital Insights' principal analyst Taylor Schreiner in a statement.
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Throughout the holiday season, Americans will spend $14 billion more via smartphones compared to last year, says Adobe, making smartphones the driver of half of the increase in sales this season. Adobe predicts on Christmas Day, consumers will make more purchases via smartphone than desktop for the first time ever.
Overall, consumers spent $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday alone, $1.3 billion more than last year, per TechCrunch. According to Adobe, the top 5 most popular purchases in the U.S. on Cyber Monday were L.O.L. Surprise dolls, Frozen 2 toys, Nintendo Switch, VR devices, and Samsung TVs.
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Taylor Watson is audience engagement editor for TheWeek.com and a former editorial assistant. She graduated from Syracuse University, with a major in magazine journalism and minors in food studies and nutrition. Taylor has previously written for Runner's World, Vice, and more.
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