Cyber Monday Sales Spurred by Discounting, AI and Mobile

Cyber Monday generated sales gains of 6 to 7 percent in the U.S., spurred by heavy discounting, AI and consumers who were shopping more with their mobile devices and on social media.

On Tuesday, Adobe reported that U.S. consumers spent $14.3 billion online during Cyber Monday, which was 7.1 percent more than last year. The tally was slightly above Adobe’s earlier projection of $14.2 billion in sales. In the peak hours of 8 to 10 p.m., when online shopping was the busiest, consumers spent $16 million every minute, according to Adobe.

Salesforce — sounding somewhat less bullish than Adobe but still positive on the outcome — reported that online Cyber Monday sales grew 6 percent to $13.6 billion in the U.S. Globally, online sales for the day rose 7 percent to $53 billion. Online order volumes increased 3 percent in the U.S. and 2 percent globally, Salesforce said.

For all of Cyber Week — the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday — Salesforce said online sales in the U.S. rose 5 percent to $479.6 billion, while globally, sales increased 7 percent to $336.6 billion.

The National Retail Federation said Cyber Monday continues to be the second-most popular day for online shopping, attracting 75.9 million online shoppers compared with 64.4 million in 2024. Mobile remains the most popular way for online shoppers to browse and buy on Cyber Monday for the second year in a row, with 46.9 million consumers shopping online via their mobile device, up from 40.4 million last year. Black Friday is still the biggest retail volume day online and in stores, according to the NRF.

These latest results from Adobe, Salesforce and the NRF suggest that retailers performed better than expected over the five days, though industry experts believe shopping levels for the period are not necessarily an indication of how the holiday season plays out overall.

The sales estimates also do not account for inflation, which stands at closer to 3 percent in the U.S., meaning real gains would be significantly lower than what’s being reported.

Discounts during Cyber Week were widely promoted at 30 to 50 percent off, though by Cyber Monday, several retailers were posting price cuts at up to 70 percent off.

The NRF has estimated that for the holiday season, defined as Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, spending will surpass $1 trillion for the first time with growth between 3.7 percent and 4.2 percent over 2024. That puts sales growth, in real terms, around 1 percent or slightly higher for the season.

An optimistic NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay said: “This year’s record turnout reflects a highly engaged consumer who is focused on value, responds to compelling promotions and seizes upon the opportunity to make the winter holidays special and meaningful.”

Shopify had a major glitch on Cyber Monday when shoppers couldn’t log in for a few hours until the issue was resolved. Nevertheless, the comapny reported its merchants achieved a record $14.6 billion in sales over the Black Friday to Cyber Monday period, up 27 percent. “From early Friday in New Zealand to late Monday in California, 81 million-plus customers around the world bought from brands powered by Shopify,” the company stated.

Black Friday, while still the most popular shopping day, saw slight declines, which industry experts attributed to Black Friday sales deals held days or weeks before Thanksgiving.

According to NRF’s statistics, Black Friday attracted 80.3 million visitors to stores and 85.7 million shoppers online, slightly below last year’s totals. Saturday drew 62.7 million in-store consumers, up slightly from 2024, and 63 million shoppers online, compared with 53.9 million a year earlier.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving drew a record 32.6 million in-store shoppers, a 27 percent increase over the 25.6 million who shopped in 2024, and 38.7 million online shoppers, compared with 32.8 million last year, the NRF reported. Snowstorms in the Midwest on Sunday would have hampered some store visits, though the weather for most of the country during Cyber Week was clear, sunny and cold — and conducive to shopping.

“This Cyber Week data confirms a complete shift: AI agents are no longer just a cost-saving measure, but an incredible purchase and productivity accelerator in commerce,” said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, in a statement Tuesday. “Influencing over 20 percent of all orders globally — accounting for an astounding $67 billion in sales — AI is driving revenue while simultaneously supercharging operations. The 70 percent spike in completed service tasks, like initiating returns and updating addresses, means agents are doing the heavy lifting, enabling brands with branded AI to grow 32 percent faster and deliver true business impact at scale.

“Cyber Week 2025 delivered on its promise as a definitive record-setter, underscoring the sustained global shift to digital commerce. Global online sales surged to an impressive $336.6 billion — a 7 percent jump over last year — led by a strong $79 billion Black Friday and earmarked by the help of AI agents to drive better product discovery and service interactions,” Schwartz added.

A NRF/Prosper Insights analysis concluded that the top shopping destinations during Thanksgiving weekend were supermarkets, with 47 percent of respondents visiting them, and online, with 45 percent of respondents shopping websites. Other top destinations included department stores (40 percent), clothing stores (37 percent) and discount stores (30 percent). 

Ninety-six percent of those shopping over the weekend made a holiday-related purchase, spending $337.86 on average on items like gifts, holiday apparel, decorations and other seasonal purchases. This is up from $315.56 last year and is the highest figure since 2019’s record of $361.90.

The top gifts purchased were clothing and accessories (51 percent), followed by toys (32 percent) then books and other media (28 percent) and gift cards (26 percent).

The NRF and Prosper also reported that a record 202.9 million consumers shopped during Cyber Week, up from 197 million shoppers last year and surpassing the previous record of 200.4 million set in 2023. The total also exceeds NRF’s initial expectations of 186.9 million shoppers over the holiday weekend. 

“Consumers continue to take advantage of the extended holiday shopping weekend with online deals on Cyber Monday. While mobile devices now lead as the most popular way to shop online for Cyber Monday, laptops also remain popular,” Prosper executive vice president of strategy Phil Rist said.

As of the Thanksgiving weekend, 84 percent of consumers had already begun their holiday shopping, Rist reported. However, similar to last year, shoppers still have a little more than half (53 percent) of their holiday shopping remaining. The NRF/Prosper survey of 3,099 adult consumers was conducted Nov. 26 to 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

Among the key data findings from Salesforce were: