Driven by mobile shopping, e-commerce won big this past holiday season

With the dawning of a new year, we often hear the phrase, New Year, New Me. Personal resolutions aside, I’m not celebrating anything new - besides the stuff I bought on sale during the holidays. Like most consumers, I was looking for good deals, and I found a couple way too good to pass on with clothing and video games.

Despite persisting inflation, which rose at an annual rate of 2.9% in December 2024, American consumers remained resilient this past holiday season, with online shopping, mobile shopping and ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) seeing growth as consumers were on the hunt for deals online.

Online sales surpass $240 billion during the 2024 holiday season

According to Adobe Analytics, American consumers spent $241.4 billion online from November 1 to December 31, 2024 (holiday season) – a 8.7% increase from 2023.

Enticed by strong discounts, consumers spent the most on electronics ($55.3 billion), apparel ($45.6 billion), and furniture and home goods ($29.2 billion). These three categories accounted for nearly 54% of overall online spending ($241.4 billion) during the 2024 holiday season.

Of the 15 days during the 2024 holiday season in which consumers spent over $4 billion in a single day, “Cyber Week” – the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday - accounted for five of them, bringing in $41.1 billion – up 8.2% from 2023. Black Friday and Cyber Monday remained the biggest days for online shopping during November and December, with online sales totaling $10.8 and $13.3 billion, respectively.

Most consumers used a smartphone to make their purchases

American consumers’ preference for mobile shopping continues to grow, with 54.5% ($131.5 billion) of purchases made online during the 2024 holiday season being made through a smartphone (mobile device).

Pre-pandemic, mobile shopping’s share of online spending during the holiday season was under 40%, with mobile shopping accounting for 36% ($51.3 billion) of online spending in 2019. By 2023, online purchases made through a smartphone would account for half (51.5%) of overall online purchases, overtaking purchases made through a desktop.

The shift in consumer shopping behavior due to the pandemic cemented online shopping as another mode for making purchases. Mobile shopping has enhanced the convenience of online shopping by being able to easily make purchases through a smartphone.

‘Buy now, pay later’ reaches new high

‘Buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) – which allows a consumer to make purchases through interest-free installments – reached a new high as well, with BNPL contributing $18.2 billion in U.S online spending – a 9.6% increase over 2023.

Along with remaining the holiday season’s biggest online shopping day, Cyber Monday was also the biggest day on record for BNPL, driving $991.2 million – a 5.5% increase from 2023.

Additionally, mobile shopping has driven BNPL purchases as well, with 79.1% of BNPL purchases being made through a smartphone.

It’s no wonder why BNPL continues to grow in popularity. Amidst a persisting inflationary environment, BNPL will continue to attract the attention of price sensitive consumers that are operating on a limited budget. With the convenience of online shopping, we should expect consumers to be more likely to use interest-free financing options as they continue searching for the best deals online.