In brief: Consumers set a new record for e-commerce spending during the 2022 holiday shopping season. According to the latest data from Adobe Analytics, consumers shelled out a total of $211.7 billion online between November 1 and December 31, good for an increase of 3.5 percent year over year.
Cyber Monday was the biggest single-day for retailers with revenue of $11.3 billion. Black Friday brought in another $9.12 billion and Thanksgiving Day added $5.3 billion to the total. Cyber Week - the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday - drove $35.2 billion in spending (up four percent YoY).
Spending was strong throughout the holiday period. Adobe noted 38 days in which daily spending surpassed $3 billion, which was on par with 2021 levels. For comparison, only 25 days during the 2020 holiday season generated revenue of at least $3 billion.
Toys, video games and apparel / accessories were in high demand this season, with sales up 206 percent, 115 percent and 94 percent, respectively, compared to pre-season levels in October. Legos, Hot Wheels, Paw Patrol, LOL Surprise and Squishmallows were top sellers in the toys category. The Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 led the way in game console category, with God of War, Madden 23, FIFA 23 and Call of Duty all selling well.
Deep discounts prompted some price-sensitive shoppers to open their wallets. In the toy category, discounts peaked at 34 percent off list price. Electronics saw markdowns of around 25 percent with computers, apparel and televisions rounding out the top five with price cuts of 20 percent, 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
Adobe's data also reveals how consumers shopped online, with 47 percent of sales coming through smartphones (up from 43 percent in 2021). On Christmas Day, mobile set a new record by accounting for 61 percent of daily sales.
Curbside pickup also held steady this past holiday season. According to the analytics, 21 percent of online orders used this fulfillment method in 2022 - down slightly from 23 percent a year earlier.
Image credit: rupixen, Markus Spiske