• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 29, 2024

Mobile shopping hit highs on Thanksgiving Day, reaching 59.5% of all online sales -- representing $3.6 billion in online spending via mobile, up 10.5% year-over-year (YoY), according to data released Friday.

Marketers looking to buy additional media might want to look at mobile purchases, which has become easier to do.

Overall, online sales peaked in the final hours of Thanksgiving Day between 8 PM and 10 PM as the day's holiday festivities wound down.  

Adobe Analytics measured the impact of marketing investments this season. For affiliates and partners -- which includes social-media influencers -- the share of traffic to retail sites came in at 19.3%, growing 7.8% YoY.

On Thanksgiving, Adobe’s data showed influencers converting shoppers defined as individuals making a purchase after seeing influencer content were eight times more than social media overall. 

Consumers overall spent $6.1 billion online Thanksgiving Day 2024 -- up 8.8% year-over-year (YoY).

Adobe Analytics released the data Friday based on ecommerce transactions of more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories.

The data shows the increase was driven by discounts across the board. In toys, for instance, discounts peaked at 27.2%.

Shoppers also took advantage of 26.5% discounts in electronics, 22.6% in apparel, 19.2% in appliances, 19.1% in sporting goods and 16.3% in furniture.

Captify tracked clicks at retail stores the week before Black Friday to get a sense of where consumers would shop. Walmart experienced the biggest increase in searches among major brands for Black Friday sales, up 38% YoY.

Kohl’s had the next-highest increase at more than 30% YoY, followed by Target with 14%, Best Buy at 12%, JC Penney at 9% and Amazon at 5%.

Overall, searches for early Black Friday deals from October 1 through November 20 have totaled 87,300. 

That has not been the case in the past month. Captify U.S. data shows Target took the lead on retail sites for brand searches including the term “Black Friday.”

Target drove 57% of the searches compared with 2023 data, while Best Buy drove 31%, followed by Amazon at 25%, and Walmart at 10%. Kohl's did not show any change in search traffic. 

Target results was boosted by deep cuts that came on Sunday, as well as early doorbusters and deals at Best Buy that attracted shopper interest, according to the data. 

Categories also varied. These changes in search represent the difference in searches for the category compared with the week before Black Friday last year -- November 11, 2023 through November 17, 2023.

The Tools & Home improvement category jumped 73% compared with YoY data. Apps & Games at 40% followed, Health & Household at 33%, Kitchen & Dining at 26%, Camera & Photo at 21%, Office product at 15%, Art Crafts & Sewing at 14%, Beauty & Personal Care at 13%, Patio Lawn & Garden at 6% and Electronics at 3%.