Mobile Purchases Surge During Record-Breaking Black Friday

Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, lived up to its reputation as a powerhouse for retail with record-breaking sales this year.

According to reports from multiple analysts, Black Friday saw unprecedented sales, indicating a strong consumer appetite and optimism in the economy. Shoppers flocked to both physical stores and online platforms, with Adobe Analytics reporting that online spending increased by 7.5% year-over-year, hitting a record of $9.8 billion in sales.

Reuters also shared a different analyst’s findings, stating that “U.S. retail sales on Black Friday rose 2.5% year-over-year excluding automotive sales, not adjusted for inflation,” according to Mastercard SpendingPulse’s data. The source, which measures online and in-store retail sales across all payment forms, specifically said that online sales increased by 8.5% compared to last year, while in-store sales only increased by 1.1%.

One notable trend this Black Friday was the dominance of mobile purchases. CNBC highlighted the surge in online sales, with mobile transactions taking the lead. Specifically, of the $9.8 billion in online sales, Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said that $5.3 billion came from mobile shopping. This shift in consumer behavior emphasizes the importance for retailers to optimize their online platforms for mobile users and adapt to the evolving preferences of shoppers.

It’s not just the total sales figures that are making headlines — the ways in which consumers pay for their purchases are undergoing a transformation. The Wall Street Journal reported that the traditional methods of payment are being upended, posing both challenges and opportunities for retailers.

In particular, “The number of store cards in circulation has fallen off a cliff,” according to Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate. Thanks to the rising interest rates of store-branded credit cards, which are often higher than more traditional cards, fewer consumers are using them than in previous years. This has led retailers to brace for “more hits to credit-card revenue.”

As reported by the WSJ, “Private-label card originations fell 37% last year compared with 2015, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Over that period, originations of general purpose credit cards grew 33%.”

Another interesting way shoppers completed purchases was by using the “Buy Now, Pay Later” flexible payment method at checkout. According to the Adobe survey, “$79 million of the sales came from consumers” who opted for this method, which is up 47% from last Black Friday.