Cyber ​​Monday set to set record for US online retail sales

(Reuters) – Cyber ​​Monday was set to become the biggest online shopping day ever in the United States, raising up to $ 11.4 billion as the coronavirus pandemic prompts consumers to stay at home and turn to the Internet for their vacation shopping.

The strong performance comes despite nearly two months of deals since Amazon.com Inc hosted its Prime Day sales event in October, with retailers looking to recoup business lost during shopping mall and store closures from COVID- 19 this year.

Adobe Analytics estimates showed this year’s conclusion of Thanksgiving weekend promotions to be between $ 10.8 billion and $ 11.4 billion.

While that amount is down from an earlier estimate of $ 12.7 billion, it still easily exceeds this year’s $ 9 billion Black Friday figure, which was the highest online sales result. of Black Friday to date, as well as last year’s Cyber ​​Monday total of $ 9.4. billion.

Consumers are also likely to maintain these expenses, said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights.

“As COVID-19, elections and uncertainty around stimulus packages have impacted consumer buying behaviors and made this year an unprecedented one in e-commerce, we expect to see continued, record-breaking e-commerce sales by Christmas, “Schreiner said in a statement.

Adobe said top-selling items included hoverboards, televisions from LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics, AirPods and watches from Apple Inc., and the Nintendo Switch.

Amazon, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic-induced abandonment of physical stores, does not appear to have had any major technical issues during the day.

Bill Hon, 49, a cook in Crawfordsville, Indiana, said Amazon still attracts his business despite offers from other companies.

“I go online a bit, look around and compare, but Amazon pretty much beats everything,” he says.

Amazon alone has had to add hundreds of thousands of employees to its rosters to meet the demand for home delivery during the pandemic. Its third-quarter sales jumped 37% to $ 96.1 billion.