Surprise, surprise – Black Friday 2023 was the biggest ever

Despite continuing economic challenges, this year’s Black Friday sales were the most lucrative to date, with Adobe’s monitoring and forecasting reports suggesting that US consumers spent $86.6 billion from November 1 to 24.

The figures reveal a significant uptick on Thanksgiving – a day when consumers spent $5.6 billion in 24 hours – and Black Friday itself, which saw sales total $9.8 billion.

Looking ahead, Adobe reckons we’ll have spent more during this year’s festive season than any other before.

Consumers are still happy to spend in 2023

We look to be on track to spend $221.8 billion this holiday season, compared with $210 billion in 2022 and $205 billion in 2021.

Of the money spent in November, up to Black Friday, $6.5 billion (7.5%) was through a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) scheme. Adobe hasn’t released figures for previous years, however a short-term look at the two months leading up to Black Friday shows a gradual decrease in the number of BNPL users, suggesting that consumers could well be saving throughout the year for this very notable occasion, even amid troubling times financially.

The analysis also reveals the best time to spend, noting that apparel and toy retailers begin to drop prices around one week before the big day. Electronic sellers do so a couple of days earlier still.

There are small, early savings up to a month in advance as retailers look to build up hype, but the figures show that the most considerable savings still happen on Black Friday itself.

Cyber Monday is expected to be just as successful this year, but it will likely be a few weeks until we begin to quantify the scale of cyberattacks targeting rushed shoppers this season.