Holiday Online Sales Up 18% to Record $108 Billion

January 16, 2018 by Paul Ausick

The 2017 holiday shopping season saw online sales hit a record $108.2 billion, up 17.7% compared with 2016. Revenue generated by mobile devices rose to $35.9 billion, 33.1% of all online sales and 28% higher than 2016 mobile-generated sales.

The data were reported Tuesday by Adobe Analytics, which tracks 80% of online spending for the 100 largest U.S. retail websites.

Last Friday, the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported that holiday season (November and December) sales rose 5.5% last year to a total of $691.9 billion, including $138.4 billion (up 11.5% year over year) in online and other nonstore sales.

As Adobe noted in its summary, rising online sales are good news across the board:

Booming online sales doesn’t mean brick-and-mortar stores are obsolete, however. In fact, a U.S. Census report in the summer of 2017 found that 90 percent of all retail purchases in America were made in brick-and-mortar locations. And 43 percent of millennials prefer to research brands and products online before shopping in-store.

NRF CEO Matthew Shay said:

We knew going in that retailers were going to have a good holiday season but the results are even better than anything we could have hoped for, especially given the misleading headlines of the past year. Whether they shopped in-store, online or on their phones, consumers were in the mood to spend, and retailers were there to offer them good value for their money. With this as a starting point and tax cuts putting more money into consumers’ pockets, we are confident that retailers will have a very good year ahead.

Adobe released its data at the NRF 2018 “Retail’s Big Show” conference in New York.

Sponsored: Want to Retire Early? Here’s a Great First Step

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.