• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 24, 2017

Adobe Analytics data released late Thursday estimates $1.52 billion in online spend as of 5:00 p.m. ET, with 16.8% growth year-on-year (YoY). The average order value (AOV) rose 3.2% to $132. 

Overall, Adobe estimates consumers spent $30.39 billion online between November 1 and November 22, up 17.9% YoY. For each of the first 22 days tracked for this report, consumer spending averaged $1 billion per day. 

Search has become a top driver for retailers, according to the data. Paid search at 22.2% and organic search at 19.5% drive a good chunk of retail sales. Direct traffic drives spend at 23.5%, email at 24.9% and shopper helper sites at 5.8%. The Adobe data suggests that shopper and social sites see the strongest increase in performance, with 16.9% and 18.7% growth, respectively, YoY.

Consumers are buying more on their smartphones this year compared with 2016. Some 46% of all traffic to retail sites came from smartphones, up 15.2% YoY, as of Thanksgiving afternoon. The share of traffic from desktop -- about 44% -- fell 11%. The share from tablets, at 10%, fell 5.7% from the prior year. 

Smartphones grew share as a source of revenue for retailers. The handheld device took 30.3% share, up 22.1% YoY. Desktop share fell 7.3% to 57.2%. Tablet share fell 7% to 12.5%.

The data also shows growth in conversion rates. Tablets rose 8% YoY to 4.2%, while smartphones rose 12.2% to 2.3% and desktops rose 19.5% to take 4.5%.

Based on companion research on a survey with more than 1,100 U.S. consumers, 52% of shoppers believe they will get the best online deals on Cyber Monday vs. Black Friday, but in reality, Black Friday deals offer the best discounts for many products. Some 61% of shoppers anticipate that they will finish all their shopping by December 11, especially younger shoppers, according to the analysis.