Cyber Monday sets $7.9 billion online retail record

Cyber Monday set a new record as the largest online shopping day of all time in the U.S., with shoppers spending a whopping $7.9 billion on merchandise.

That’s a near 20 percent increase compared to last year’s $6.6 billion in sales, according to a new report released on Tuesday by Adobe Analytics, which tracks 80 of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S., including Walmart and Amazon.

More and more shoppers used their smartphones to make purchases, accounting for $2.2 billion in purchases – the first time ever that more than half of visits came from mobile devices.

“Cyber Monday shoppers relied heavily on their mobile devices, resulting in an unprecedented 55.6 percent year-over-year increase from smartphones alone,” said Taylor Schreiner, the director of Adobe Digital Insights.

Another popular option this year, according to Adobe, was click-and-collect orders (buy online and pick up in the store), with an increase of 65 percent, compared to last year. The hike in that type of purchase is likely indicative of retailer investments trying to bridge the gap between offline and online experiences.

Some of the best discounts during the shopping holiday were for televisions (discounted an average of 18.9 percent), while the price of computers and toys slowly began to return to normal levels, according to Adobe.

On Black Friday, online sales pulled in a record-setting $6.22 billion this year, as more and more shoppers chose to skip venturing to the stores.

Adobe anticipated the sales would extend into Tuesday, with early data suggesting that consumers continue to shop online in strong numbers following Cyber Monday. Sales for the day are expected to climb to $2.9 billion.