Adobe: Record U.S. online holiday spending passes $241 billion
American consumers flocked online for their holiday shopping in 2024.
According to Adobe Analytics data, U.S. consumers spent $241.4 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, 2024 up 8.7% year-over-year from $222 billion and setting a new record for e-commerce.
This was also slightly higher than the $240.8 billion Adobe initially predicted U.S. would spend online during the 2024 holiday season. Fifteen days during the 61-day period (roughly one in four) saw consumers spend more than $4 billion in a single day, up from 11 days in 2023).
[READ MORE: Adobe: U.S. online holiday spend to shatter records at $240.8 billion]
Adobe figures are not adjusted for inflation, but if online deflation were factored in, observed growth in consumer spend would be stronger.
Mobile shopping hits new holiday milestone
The 2024 holiday season was the most mobile of all time as measured by Adobe, with smartphones driving 54.5% of all online purchases (up from 51.1% in 2023) and 79.1% of buy now, pay later transactions made through a smartphone.
Overall BNPL usage hit an all-time high, contributing $18.2 billion in online spend, up 9.6% from $16.6 billion in the 2023 holiday season. Mobile shopping tracked by Adobe was highest on Christmas Day (Dec. 25), driving 65% of online sales, compared to 63% in 2023.
Generative AI shopping assistants boom
Traffic to retail sites from generative AI-powered chatbots (shoppers clicking on a link to a retail site) increased by a significant 1300% compared to the year prior. Cyber Monday saw the biggest growth in chat bot usage for any single day of the season, up 1950% year-over-year.
Curbside pickup slightly declines
The curbside pickup fulfillment method was used in 17.5% of online orders tracked by Adobe during the holiday season for retailers that offer the service (down from 18.4% in 2023). Curbside pickup peaked on Dec. 23 (the day before Christmas Eve), driving 37.8% of online orders.
Influencers have impact
Affiliates and partners— the marketing category which includes social media influencers—share of revenue came in at 17.6%, representing 6% growth year-over-year. The influencer channel also outpaced retailer traffic from social media overall (around 5% of revenue share), which grew 5.4% year-over-year.
Influencers also converted shoppers (individuals making a purchase after seeing influencer content) nine times more than social media overall.
Discounts drive demand
Adobe data shows that for every 1% decrease in price, demand increased by 1.029% compared to the 2023 season. This drove an additional $2.25 billion in online spend.
Strong discounts this season also drove shoppers to purchase higher-ticket items in categories such as electronics, appliances, and sporting goods, according to Adobe. During the season, the share-of-units-sold for the most expensive goods increased by 21%.
Top categories
Of the $241.4 billion spent online during the 2024 holiday season, 54% was driven by three categories: electronics ($55.3 billion, up 8.8% year-over-year), apparel ($45.6 billion, up 9.9% year-over-year) and furniture/home goods ($29.2 billion, up 6.8% year-over-year).
The strongest growth was observed in grocery ($21.5 billion, up 12.9% year-over-year) and cosmetics ($7.7 billion, up 12.2% year-over-year).
"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,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights. “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.”
Based on Adobe Analytics data, this holiday e-commerce analysis covers more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. Adobe Analytics is part of Adobe Experience Cloud.
