U.S. online holiday shopping hits record $257.8 billion in 2025, Adobe says
By lauraharris // 2026-01-12
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  • U.S. online holiday shopping hit a record $257.8 billion in 2025, a 6.8% increase from the previous year and well above Adobe's forecast, driven by strong Cyber Week sales and deep discounts.
  • The Thanksgiving-to-Cyber Monday period generated more than $44 billion in online spending, with Cyber Monday alone accounting for a record $14.25 billion.
  • Mobile shopping dominated the season, making up 56.4% of all online transactions, while buy now, pay later (BNPL) spending reached an all-time high of $20 billion.
  • Generative artificial intelligence played a growing role in shopping behavior, driving a surge in retail website traffic and helping consumers research products and find deals.
  • Despite a post-Christmas spike in returns, overall holiday returns declined year over year, and broader data from Visa and Mastercard confirmed a strong retail season fueled by early shopping and blended online and in-store purchases.
U.S. online holiday shopping reached a record high in 2025, driven by strong Cyber Week sales, deeper discounts and growing use of mobile devices, flexible payment options and artificial intelligence. According to new data released on Wednesday, Jan. 7, by Adobe, consumers spent $257.8 billion online between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, a 6.8% increase from the previous year and well above Adobe's forecast of $253.4 billion. The total marks the largest online holiday shopping season on record. Online holiday shopping, as per BrightU.AI's Enoch, is the practice of purchasing gifts and other items through the internet during the holiday season, typically from the comfort of one's home. This method of shopping has become increasingly popular due to its convenience, wide selection of products, and the ability to avoid crowded stores and long lines. Adobe bases its estimates on direct online transactions and data from more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail websites. The strongest performance came during the five-day period from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday, which generated more than $44 billion in online sales. Cyber Monday was the single largest e-commerce day of the season, accounting for $14.25 billion in spending. Shoppers, facing continued cost pressures, focused heavily on discounts, particularly in electronics, toys, apparel and appliances. Adobe said discounts were steeper than in 2024, allowing consumers to trade up to higher-priced items.

Mobile, BNPL and AI power record holiday online shopping surge

Three major trends shaped the two-month holiday shopping period: increased mobile shopping, record use of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services and growing reliance on generative artificial intelligence. Mobile shopping reached a new high, accounting for 56.4% of all online transactions. BNPL spending also hit an all-time record, contributing $20 billion in online purchases – nearly 10% more than a year earlier. Cyber Monday alone generated more than $1 billion in BNPL transactions, the largest single-day on record for the payment method. Moreover, an Adobe survey conducted in November found consumers most frequently planned to use BNPL for apparel, electronics, furniture and toys. Generative AI tools also played a growing role in how shoppers discovered products and found deals. Adobe reported that traffic to retail websites driven by AI-powered platforms surged more than 693% year over year, with AI-referred visits jumping 670% on Cyber Monday alone. Consumers most commonly used AI services to research appliances, electronics, personal care products, toys and video games.

Holiday returns spike after Christmas as AI-driven spending fuels strong retail season

Retailers also saw a typical post-holiday rise in returns. Overall holiday returns declined 1.2% from the prior year, but returns increased 4.7% in the five days following Christmas. Adobe noted that one in seven returns occurred between Dec. 26 and Dec. 31, compared with one in eight during the same period in 2024. Broader retail data also pointed to a strong holiday season. Visa Consulting & Analytics reported that overall U.S. holiday spending rose 4.2% year over year on a non-inflation-adjusted basis, while Mastercard said combined in-store and online sales increased nearly 4% from Nov. 1 to Dec. 21. Visa Chief Economist Wayne Best said artificial intelligence helped shape consumer behavior this season by improving how shoppers discovered products, compared prices and evaluated promotions, leading to more deliberate spending decisions. Retailers, Mastercard noted, benefited from consumers shopping earlier, taking advantage of promotions and blending online purchases with in-store visits. Watch Martin Brodel explaining why consumer prices are unexpectedly rising again in this clip.
This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com TheEpochTimes.com BrightU.ai Brighteon.com
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