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Adobe said consumers spent a record $257.8 billion online during the holiday season ( from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31), up 6.8% year-over-year (YoY) and setting a new record for ecommerce. It based its data on transactions covering over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. 25 days saw consumers spend more than $4 billion in a single day (a significant jump from 18 days in 2024).
The majority of online transactions (56.4%) took place through a smartphone (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).
Adobe attributed the record sales on strong discounts in categories such as electronics, where discounts peaked at 30.9% off listed price (vs. 30.1% in 2024); toys at 29.6% (vs. 28%); and apparel at 25.1% (vs. 23.2%).
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.
While the base of users of generative AI-powered chat services and browsers remained modest, 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. Such 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.”
Adobe data found that returns were down for the holiday season compared to last year (1.2%), but were up 4.7% in the days following Christmas Day (Dec. 26 to Dec. 31). And while shoppers have embraced smaller screens to transact, they are relying on desktop devices to make returns.
In terms of the impact of marketing spending, Adobe said social media was the standout for the 2025 holiday 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.
The Adobe 2026 holiday season press release has more details.