Online Sales And BNPL Transactions Hit Record Highs on Cyber Monday

Online shoppers spent a record $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday, a 9.6% increase from the previous year, according to Adobe Digital Insights. The peak spending period came between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Time, when consumers spent $15.7 million every minute during that hour.

Buy now, pay later was a leading payment option for online shoppers, accounting for a record $940 million of Cyber Monday spending, a 42.5% increase from a year ago. Online shoppers used BNPL loans also to purchase a broader array of products than they did on Cyber Monday 2022. The number of items purchased with a BNPL loan rose 11% from the year prior, according to Adobe.

From Nov. 1 to Nov. 27, online purchases financed with a BNPL loan totaled $8.3 billion, up 17% from the same period in 2022. Adobe predicts that November 2023 will be the biggest month on record for purchases made with these installment loans.

For the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, online shoppers spent $38 billion overall, up 7.8% from a year earlier. Online sales from Nov. 1 to Nov. 27 totaled $109.3 billion, up 7.3% from a year ago. Adobe predicts that online sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 will hit $221.8 billion, a 4.4% year-over-year increase.

Mobile shoppers accounted for 51.8% of online sales from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, up from 49.9% during the same period in 2022. On Thanksgiving Day alone, mobile shoppers accounted for 59% of online sales, compared to 55% in 2022.

Curbside pickup came into play less during this year’s Cyber Week, accounting for 12.7% of online orders, compared to 14.8% during the same period in 2022. Adobe noted that, during Cyber Week, consumers opted for standard shipping for 80% of online orders.

“The 2023 holiday shopping season began with a lot of uncertainty, as consumers shifted their spending to services, while dealing with rising costs across different facets of their lives,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for Adobe Digital Insights, says in a statement “The record online spending across Cyber Week, however, shows the impact that discounts can have on consumer demand, especially with quality products that drove a lot of impulse shopping.”