U.S. Black Friday online sales hit record high

U.S. shoppers spent a record US$9.12 billion online this Black Friday, a report showed on Saturday, as consumers weathered the squeeze from high inflation and grabbed steep discounts on everything from smartphones to toys.

Online spending rose 2.3 per cent on Black Friday, Adobe Inc.’s data and insights arm Adobe Analytics said, thanks to consumers holding out for discounts until the traditionally big shopping days, despite deals starting as early as October.

Adobe Analytics, which measures e-commerce by analyzing transactions at websites, has access to data covering purchases at 85 per cent of the top 100 Internet retailers in the United States.

It had forecast Black Friday sales to rise a modest one per cent.

Adobe expects Cyber Monday to be the season’s biggest online shopping day again, driving US$11.2 billion in spend.