Black Friday sales reach record US$9.8b in US

The news: This year's Black Friday e-commerce spending jumped 7.5% compared to last year, reaching a record USD9.8 billion ($14.9 billion) in the US, according to an Adobe Analytics report.

The numbers: The report forecast that online shoppers spent roughly $10 billion over the course of Saturday and Sunday, and a record $12 billion on Cyber Monday. The survey found that $79 million of the sales came from consumers who chose ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ payments, up 47% from last year.

The context: Adobe takes its data from one trillion visits to US retail websites, 18 product categories and 100 million unique items. While the figures don't include brick-and-mortar transactions, a Mastercard analysis of this year’s in-store Black Friday sales saw a rise of just over 1% versus online sales, which grew by over 8% compared to last year.