Black Friday ecommerce sales reach $10.8 billion
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on November 30, 2024
Consumers did what they’re known for on Black Friday 2024, reaching new thresholds of spending — and setting new records for ecommerce sales.
On Black Friday 2024, U.S. ecommerce sales hit $10.8 billion, according to Adobe Analytics data. Ecommerce sales on Black Friday grew 10.2% year over year, Adobe’s analysts assessed. That’s both more total sales and faster year-over-year growth than Thanksgiving ecommerce sales on Nov. 28 — $6.1 billion, up 8.8% year over year.
It’s also a billion more total sales and faster growth than Black Friday 2023 ecommerce sales.
Furthermore, it’s also more than double what consumers spent online on Black Friday 2017, which drove $5.03 billion in ecommerce sales.
Consumers spent $11.3 million online per minute, on average, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Black Friday.
Adobe Analytics
“Crossing the $10 billion mark is a big e-commerce milestone for Black Friday, for a day that in the past was more anchored towards in-store shopping”, said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement. “And with consumers getting more comfortable with everything from mobile shopping to chat bots, we have tailwinds that can prop up online growth for Black Friday moving forward.”
This is the third consecutive year of Black Friday ecommerce sales growth, following a slight dip in 2021 after the pandemic led to increased online shopping in 2020.
Adobe Analytics data is based on more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories, according to the company. 200 online retailers in the Top 1000 use Adobe Analytics for their web analytics, and 97 use it for site design and development. Top 1000 online retailers also use it for content delivery and management, as an ecommerce platform, a marketing platform, for personalization and more.
The Top 1000 is Digital Commerce 360’s database of North America’s largest online retailers based on their annual ecommerce sales.
Impact of Black Friday on ecommerce sales
Adobe Analytics data indicates that consumers spent $11.3 million online per minute, on average, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Black Friday.
Sales from mobile devices grew at a faster rate than total Black Friday ecommerce sales in 2024 (12.1% year-over-year growth). Mobile devices facilitated 55% of online sales on Black Friday, or $5.9 billion.
Also on Black Friday, consumers used buy now, pay later (BNPL) 8.8% more than the year before, driving $686.3 million.
Adobe data also highlighted consumers’ willingness to wait before completing their spending, despite a trend of retailers beginning promotions weeks or even the month before Black Friday.
For example, toy sales “were a major growth driver” on Black Friday 2024, Adobe said. Online toy sales on Black Friday increased 622% compared to average daily sales in October 2024. That was also the case for:
- Jewelry (online sales up 561% compared to average daily sales in October)
- Appliances (up 476%)
- Personal care (up 440%)
- Apparel (up 374%
- Electronics (up 334%)
Global Black Friday online sales in 2024
In 2024, global online sales on Black Friday grew 5% year over year, to reach $74.4 billion, according to data from ecommerce platform provider Salesforce. And artificial intelligence, along with Salesforce’s Agentforce, drove $14.1 billion in global Black Friday online sales, the company said.
Salesforce data also estimates that U.S. online sales on Black Friday reached $17.5 billion. That would be a 7% year-over-year increase, based on annual Salesforce data.
“By harnessing the value of AI and agentic conversations, retailers are better equipped to serve the needs of their shoppers and drive them to the buy button,” said Caila Schwartz, Salesforce director of consumer insights, in a statement.
She said online retailers who use generative AI and agents in their customer service experiences saw a 9% higher conversion rate compared to those who are not.
“For an industry that is often concerned with margins, especially ahead of rising costs in 2025, this percent increase is a game-changer,” Schwartz said.
Salesforce draws on global shopping data from more than 1.5 billion shoppers from its Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud platforms. In North America, 76 of the Top 2000 online retailers use Salesforce as their ecommerce platform. In 2023, those 76 online retailers combined for more than $136.077 billion in web sales.
Global impact of mobile devices on Black Friday
Globally, mobile devices drove 80% of traffic and 69% of all Black Friday sales in 2024. That’s up slightly from 68% of sales in 2023.
In the U.S., Salesforce data shows, 80% of traffic was also mobile, but that’s down slightly from 81% the year before. Similarly, mobile devices drove 73% of Black Friday sales, Salesforce said, an increase from 71% in 2023.
Salesforce data also indicated that marketing departments’ email sends were flat year over year. However, they increased push and SMS notifications 15% year over year.
Additionally, social media channels drove 10% of all global online traffic, which is flat compared to 2023, Salesforce said. In the U.S., social media drove 11% of online traffic, also flat year over year.
How good were the Black Friday 2024 deals?
Black Friday 2024 discounts exceeded expectations in some categories, Adobe said, driving consumers to convert. According to Adobe data, discounts peaked at:
- 27.8% off listed price for toys
- 27.4% for electronics
- 24.2% for televisions
- 22.2% for apparel
- 22% for computers
- 19.5% for sporting goods
Overall, according to Salesforce data, U.S. Black Friday discounts fell 3% year over year to an average rate of 28% off listed price. Globally, Black Friday promotions fell 3% to an average discount rate of 27% off.
Holiday season 2024 ecommerce sales to date
From Nov. 1 through Black Friday 2024, U.S. consumers spent $107.3 billion, according to Adobe Analytics data.
Consumers completed more than half (52.28%) of that Black Friday ecommerce spending on their mobile devices in 2024, reaching $56.1 billion in sales. And 7% of that spending from Nov. 1 through Black Friday came through buy now, pay later (BNPL), which facilitated $7.6 billion in sales, according to Adobe Analytics data.
79.3% of BNPL usage has come from mobile devices since Nov. 1, Adobe said.
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