Cyber Monday sets sales record as shoppers splurge on toys, electronics- report By Reuters

(Reuters) – Discount-hunting shoppers snapped up more Pokemon cards, TVs and air fryers on Cyber Monday, pushing sales to $11.3 billion, making it the biggest U.S. online shopping day in history, according to data from Adobe (NASDAQ:) Analytics.

Sales, not adjusted for inflation, rose 5.8% from a year ago, per data from Adobe Analytics, which measures e-commerce performance by analyzing purchases at 85% of the top 100 internet retailers in the United States.

While retailers started promotions and discount offers as early as October to induce more sales, turns out inflation-weary shoppers had largely put off their holiday shopping until the Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday in hopes of finding the best deals.

Major retailers including Target (NYSE:), Macy’s (NYSE:) and Best Buy have all signaled a return to pre-pandemic shopping patterns and the need to discount more heavily during the traditional single-day shopping events.

Toys were the hottest products on Cyber Monday, with online sales going up nearly eight-fold compared to an average day in October 2022, according to the Adobe Analytics report.

Electronics sales rose nearly five-fold, while sporting goods, appliances and books also saw increases of well over 400%.

The report added that Pokemon cards, Hot Wheels, PlayStation 5s, Smart TVs and Apple (NASDAQ:) AirPods were among the best-selling products.

Shopify (NYSE:) Inc, an online payment services provider, said on Tuesday merchants using its platform logged a record $7.5 billion in sales globally from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

Still, some experts were not convinced that a bright Cyber Monday was a sign of inflation easing its burden on consumer sentiment.

“Online shopping still makes up only about 15% of all retail sales. So it is not necessarily a great indicator of the health of the economy overall,” said Dan North, senior economist at global trade credit insurer Allianz (ETR:) Trade North America.