• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 29, 2019

Consumers made a whopping $18.2 billion in purchases via smartphones this holiday season, representing 49.5% growth year-over-year (YoY), according to data released Thursday.

Adobe Analytics data released Thursday estimates this is the first Thanksgiving Day to surpass $4 billion in online sales. Estimates put online sales at $4.4 billion by end-of-day today as shoppers step away from dinner tables and divert their attention to shopping for the best deals.

Thanksgiving Day is expected to see the highest revenue share from mobile throughout the four-day weekend. Consumers are using smartphones to make purchases this season more often than ever. Some 34.4% of all e-commerce sales have been made on a smartphone -- up 24.1% YoY. 

Not surprisingly, ecommerce giants that make more than $1 billion in annual revenue have outperformed their smaller counterparts, companies making about $50 million in annual revenue, mostly driven by smartphones.

The smartphone revenue share of larger companies is 10% higher, and they are 70% more efficient at converting customer smartphone browsing time into sales.

Ecommerce giants have seen a 38% boost in sales this holiday season compared to 16% boost for smaller retailers. 

Social media remains a small ecommerce acquisition channel. About 2.7% share of all purchases is initiated from social media, up 21.8% YoY.  The majority of those are done on a smartphone at 60%. Paid-search ads still dominate this space as the top channel with 23.8% share of purchases. 

Overall, between Nov. 1 and 27, consumers spent $53 billion online -- up 16.1% compared with a year ago. All 27 days in November surpassed $1 billion in sales, with eight days bringing in more than $2 billion each. The day before Thanksgiving brought in $2.9 billion, up 22% from the prior year.

Black Friday sales are forecast to reach $7.5 billion -- up 20.5% YoY -- and $9.4 billion in sales, up 19.1%, on Cyber Monday.  

Top products point to toys like Frozen 2, L.o.L Surprise, and Beyblades. Top video games are "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare," "NBA 2K20" and "Just Dance 2020." Then there are electronics such as Samsung TVs, Instapots, and Apple AirPods. 

The buy online and pick-up in-store option, along with curbside pickup options, have generated 33.2% growth YoY. These options give brick-and-mortar retailers a way to compete with online-only retailers.

The average order value (AOV) for BOPIS orders remains lower than overall AOV, $120 compared to $159, but based on Adobe Analytics survey data of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers in October about 82% of BOPIS consumers plan on doing additional shopping in store while picking up their order.