• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 26, 2022

Consumers spent a record $9.12 billion online on Black Friday -- up 2.3% from last year, according to data published Saturday.

Adobe Analytics released its final Black Friday numbers and previewed its forecast for the remainder of the holiday weekend.

The analysis -- part of Adobe's Experience Cloud database -- aggregates more than a trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.

Electronics drove much of the growth, with online sales rising 221% for the category, compared with the average day in October 2022. Smart-home items rose 271% and audio equipment was up 230%.

Sales of toys jumped 285%, and sales of exercise equipment increased 218%.

Despite struggling with higher prices and inflation, consumers wanting to purchase items have found flexible ways to spend. "Buy Now Pay Later" (BNPL) orders rose by 78% when compared with the prior week (Nov. 19-25).

BNPL revenue rose 81% in the same period. Black Friday mobile shopping also reached a new record, with 48% of online sales coming from smartphones -- up from 44% in 2021.

The most-purchased items on Black Friday included toys related to Fortnite, Roblox, Bluey, Funko Pop!, and Disney Encanto.

Gaming remained a popular category. Consumers bought Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5 devices, along with games FIFA 23, NBA 2k23, and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.

Drones, Apple MacBooks, and Dyson products also sold well.

Adobe Analytics expects the five days from Thanksgiving Day through "Cyber Monday" -- known as "Cyberweek" -- to generate $34.8 billion in online spending, up 2.8% from 2022, and representing a 16.3% share of the holiday season (November through December) sales.

Ecommerce activity is expected to remain strong this weekend, with shoppers set to spend more than $9 billion online -- $4.52 billion on Saturday, and $4.99 billion on Sunday.

Adobe expects Cyber Monday to be the season’s biggest online shopping day again -- driving $11.2 billion in spending, an increase of 5.1% over last year.

Today (November 26), is "Small Business Saturday," a day consumers are urged to shop with local, independent retailers, and Adobe's data shows smaller retailers -- those with $10 million to $50 million in annual revenue -- have struggled in an uncertain economic environment. Their online sales grew at one third those of larger retailers (those generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue).