Adobe: Holiday Shopping Season Drove a Record $257.8 Billion Online with Consumers Embracing Generative AI Tools

Record holiday season online, propelled by a strong Cyber Week

Consumers spent $257.8 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, up 6.8% year-over-year (YoY) and setting a new record for e-commerce. 25 days saw consumers spend more than $4 billion in a single day (a significant jump from 18 days in 2024). Mobile shopping hit a new milestone, with the majority of online transactions (56.4%) taking place through a smartphone this season (up from 54.5% in 2024); Mobile shopping was highest on Christmas Day (Dec. 25), driving 66.5% of online sales (vs. 65% in 2024), followed by Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27) at 61.6% mobile share (vs. 59.3% in 2024).

Record online spending this season was bolstered by a strong Cyber Week (the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday), which brought in $44.2 billion online overall, up 7.7% YoY. Cyber Monday remained the biggest e-commerce day of the season (and year), driving $14.25 billion in online spend, up 7.1% YoY. Cyber Monday growth was outpaced by Black Friday ($11.8 billion, up 9.1% YoY), as consumers embraced earlier deals. On Thanksgiving Day, consumers spent $6.4 billion online, up 5.3% YoY.

Competitive discounts pushed consumers to ‘trade up’

Strong discounts this season drove resilient consumer demand online. Shoppers found great deals in electronics, where discounts peaked at 30.9% off listed price (vs. 30.1% in 2024), as well as toys at 29.6% (vs. 28%), apparel at 25.1% (vs. 23.2%), televisions at 24.3% (vs. 24.2%), computers at 23.4% (vs. 22.8%), sporting goods at 20.3% (vs. 19.5%), appliances at 20.2% (vs. 19.2%) and furniture at 18.8% (vs. 19%).

Deals this season also drove consumers to purchase higher-ticket items in categories such as electronics, sporting goods and appliances—propelling e-commerce growth as a result. This season, the share-of-units-sold for the most expensive goods increased by 20% compared to the rest of the year. Within categories, this figure was up 56% in electronics, 55% in sporting goods, 38% in appliances, 34% in personal care products and 29% in tools.

Generative AI reshaped the online shopping journey

Generative AI-powered chat services and browsers have become an integral tool for consumers to find deals and research products. This season, traffic to retail sites from generative AI tools (shoppers clicking on a link to a retail site) increased by 693.4% compared to the year prior. On Cyber Monday, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites increased by 670%. While the base of users remains modest, the uptick shows the value AI can deliver as a shopping assistant. These services were used most in categories including video games, toys, appliances, electronics and personal care products.

“This 2025 holiday season, consumers embraced generative AI more than ever as a shopping assistant in their purchasing decisions,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights. “Competitive discounts and flexible payment options like Buy Now Pay Later also contributed to driving record spend of $257.8 billion throughout this holiday season.”

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) hits $20 billion milestone

Usage of the flexible payment method hit an all-time high this holiday season, contributing $20 billion in online spend, up 9.8% YoY and representing $1.8 billion more than the last season. Smartphones are the device of choice for consumers leveraging this flexible payment method, driving the vast majority (82.2%) of BNPL purchases this season. Additionally, Cyber Monday was the biggest day on record for BNPL, crossing the $1 billion milestone ($1.03 billion, up 4.2% YoY). In an Adobe survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers (conducted Nov. 2025), respondents said they were most likely to use BNPL for electronics, apparel, toys, and furniture purchases.

Additional holiday season insights

• Shoppers returned less products: Returns were down 1.2% this holiday season (compared to last year). In the days following Christmas Day (Dec. 26 to Dec. 31), returns were up 4.7%, and 1 out of every 7 returns this season happened during this time period. While shoppers have embraced smaller screens to transact, they are relying on desktop devices to make returns. This season, 38.8% of returns happened on a mobile device (vs. desktop), while 56.4% of overall online spend was driven by mobile.

• Categories driving e-commerce growth: Of the $257.8 billion spent online this holiday season, over half (54%) was driven by three categories including electronics ($59.8 billion, up 8.2% YoY), apparel ($49.0 billion, up 7.4% YoY) and furniture ($31.1 billion, up 6.6% YoY). Other categories with notable growth this season included cosmetics ($8.4 billion, up 9.3% YoY), groceries ($23.7 billion, up 10.2% YoY), sporting goods ($8.4 billion, up 7.7% YoY), and toys ($8.8 billion, up 7.8% YoY).

• Impact of marketing investments: Adobe tracks the marketing channels that are driving consumers to hit buy on U.S. retail sites. Social media is the standout this season, with its share of revenue coming in at 4.6%, up a significant 40.3% YoY (2024: 3.3% share, up 5.4% YoY). In ‘affiliates and partners’, which includes social media influencers, revenue share came in at 20.4%, up 15.9% YoY (2024: 17.6% share, up 6.0% YoY). While major channels such as paid search and email continue to be reliable drivers of traffic and sales online, consumers are increasingly turning to social media to discover and learn about new products.

• What consumers are buying: Online sales of video games were up 415% this season (compared to pre-season spending levels in October 2025). Other categories with strong demand included hand tools (up 395%), refrigerators and freezers (up 360%), home security products (up 360%), washers and dryers (up 350%), bracelets (up 335%), headphones and speakers (up 320%), puzzles and boxed games (up 300%), fragrance (up 295%), holiday decor (up 285%), smartwatches (up 285%), power tools (up 280%) and earrings (up 275%).

• Hot sellers: This season’s top selling items included toys such as LEGO Icons sets, Wicked dolls, Furreal plush toys, LeapFrog Learning toys, Hot Wheels sets, Fisher Price Little People, Bluey Playsets, Nerf guns, Play-Doh sets and DIY craft kits. Top selling gaming consoles included Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation Portal, and top games included Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Pokémon Legends, NBA 2K26 and Donkey Kong Bananza. Other hot sellers included mirrorless digital cameras (Sony A7IV), Apple Watch Series 11, fragrance sets, luggage sets, cordless vacuum cleaners, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, air fryers, cookware sets, and stainless steel tumblers.

• Curbside pickup: The fulfillment method was used in 17.1% of online orders this holiday season, for retailers that offer the service (down from 17.5% in 2024). While usage has come down this season, a significant number of shoppers continue to find value in the fulfillment service for speed and convenience. This season, curbside pickup peaked on Dec. 23rd (the day before Christmas Eve), driving 39.0% of online orders as anxious shoppers used the service to make sure they got gifts on time.