Adobe says Black Friday sets a record $11.8 billion in online spending

American consumers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which says it tracks more than a trillion visits to retail sites in the United States.

Adobe says this is a new record, higher than the $10.8 billion spent on Black Friday last year. Between 10am and 2pm, online shoppers were estimated to spend $12.5 million every minute. Adobe said in a statement that the numbers show Black Friday has become “a key moment for e-commerce, as more shoppers choose to stay home and take advantage of deals,” Forbes reported.

The company expects Cyber ​​Monday (coming two days later, on December 1) to be even bigger, with $14.2 billion spent online, according to Reuters.

Black Friday data from companies like Adobe and Salesforce can provide an early indicator of broader holiday shopping trends. Adobe expects to spend a total of $253.4 billion on holidays this year, compared to $241.1 billion in 2024.

Salesforce said it tracked $79 billion in global spending on Black Friday, including $18 billion in the U.S., a year-over-year increase of 6% and 3%, respectively. But this growth may have less to do with increased consumer demand and rather reflect rising prices — Salesforce data also shows that prices rose 7% on average, while order volumes fell 1%.

Both Adobe and Salesforce claim they are seeing an increasing impact of AI on holiday shopping. For example, Salesforce said that between Thanksgiving and Black Friday, AI and AI agents impacted $22 billion in global sales, though it’s not clear how broadly that should be defined.

The data is less clear on how online trends compare to in-person shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, with RetailNext telling Forbes that in-store traffic appears to be down 3.4% nationwide, while Pass_by said foot traffic was up 1.17% overall, and a more impressive 7.9% at department stores.