The 2024 holiday season marked a remarkable milestone in online shopping, setting a new record as consumer spending soared to an impressive $241.4 billion. This growth, representing an 8.7% increase year over year, exceeded Adobe Analytics' earlier prediction of $240.8 billion. Notably, the data revealed a significant shift in consumer behavior, as the majority of e-commerce transactions were conducted via mobile devices, showcasing a growing preference for smaller screens among shoppers.
In fact, approximately 55% of total transactions occurred on smartphones, up from 51.1% in the previous year, while mobile shopping reached its zenith on Christmas Day, accounting for an astonishing 65% of online expenditures. As consumers increasingly turn to mobile platforms, the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing the shopping experience has become increasingly pronounced.
According to Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, the holiday season underscored the transformative impact of generative AI-powered services, which have emerged as crucial tools for streamlining the shopping process. The traffic to retail websites through AI-powered chatbots skyrocketed by 1,300% compared to the previous year, effectively positioning these chatbots as indispensable shopping assistants for modern consumers. The e-commerce landscape during the 2024 holiday season was further bolstered by notable increases in spending through Cyber Week, which encompasses five key days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.
Sales during this period rose by 8.2% year over year, totaling $41.1 billion and surpassing Adobe's forecast of $40.6 billion. Cyber Monday retained its status as the biggest online shopping day of the year, with an impressive $13.3 billion in sales, reflecting a 7.3% increase from 2023. Black Friday sales also exhibited growth, rising approximately 10% to reach $10.8 billion, while Thanksgiving spending climbed by 8.8%, totaling $6.1 billion. Interestingly, Adobe's findings indicated that the strong consumer spending witnessed during this festive period was largely attributed to net-new demand, rather than inflated prices.
This aligns with the data presented in Adobe's digital price index, which highlights a continuous decline in e-commerce prices for an impressive 27 consecutive months, resulting in a year-over-year decrease of 2.6% in November. This trend emphasizes the ongoing affordability of online shopping, enabling consumers to engage in robust spending without the pressure of rising costs, a factor that may have contributed to the heightened enthusiasm for e-commerce during the holiday season. Overall, the 2024 holiday season's e-commerce performance serves as a testament to the evolving dynamics of retail, driven by consumer preferences for mobile and AI-driven experiences, while maintaining a focus on value and availability..