Online Sales Drove A Strong Start To The Holiday Shopping Season

Reference: Found here

Retailers have done brisk business to start the holiday season, with consumer spending particularly spirited online.

Beats headphones, Samsung TVs, Barbie dolls and Play-doh have been popular purchases on Amazon ( AMZN ), the company said. Online shoppers have also been snagging Harry Potter toys, Lego sets, Mario Kart 8 and Zelda games, along with computers, digital cameras and electric scooters and bikes, according to Adobe ( ADBE ).

This fueled a nearly 15% hike in online spending on Black Friday, totaling $10.8 billion in e-commerce sales, Adobe said. Americans spent another $10.9 billion over the holiday weekend and $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, Adobe said Tuesday. Amazon sold a record number of items — and took in more revenue than in prior years — during its Nov. 21 through Dec. 2 holiday promotion, the company said.

Retailers likely checked out more consumers online than in person on every day between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday except Saturday, according to the National Retail Federation. In-person Black Friday sales were up less than 1% year-over-year, while stores drew about 3.2% fewer people, according to Mastercard and RetailNext, a firm that tracks foot traffic. Cold weather, particularly in the Midwest, may have kept some shoppers at home, RetailNext said.

Lower-income consumers may shop in person more because they rely more on cash and debit cards, want to avoid shipping and return fees, are looking for deals rather than just gifts, and prefer to examine expensive items, according to the NRF.