Cyber Monday sales jump 17%, on target for record

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Cyber Monday was on track to become the biggest-ever Internet shopping day in the United States as shoppers snapped up bargains on toys and electronics, with many more Americans shopping on their phones.

Adobe Analytics, a leading collector of e-commerce data, said Cyber Monday is expected to generate 6.6 billion US dollars in sales, up from 5.6 billion a year ago.

As of 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), sales were up 16.8 percent to 3.38 billion dollars.

Revenue from smartphones jumped 41 percent on last year, Adobe said.

The buying frenzy has gone on for the better part of a week. Amazon said it broke sales records this weekend and was on pace to do so on Cyber Monday, with three million toys sold halfway through the shopping event.

Packages move along a conveyor belt at the Amazon.com Inc. fulfillment center in Robbinsville, New Jersey, US‍. /VCG photo‍

Thanksgiving and Black Friday, when shoppers spent 7.9 billion dollars and bought more on their mobile devices than last year, also generated record online sales.

This has brightened the overall outlook for traditional retailers that have expanded beyond brick-and-mortar outlets into e-commerce.

However, the availability of deals and promotions throughout November hurt shopper traffic at stores.

Promotions during the weekend were largely uninspiring, Barclays analysts said, adding that deeper discounts could continue into December rather than being concentrated on Cyber Monday.

Toys are expected to see the biggest discounts Monday followed by some deals on computers and televisions, Adobe said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc started Cyber Monday deals at midnight on Monday and said it will bring back discounts from Black Friday that were popular with shoppers.

Employees fill online orders at the Amazon.com Inc. fulfillment center in Robbinsville, New Jersey, U.S/VCG photo‍

Wal-Mart is within striking distance of matching Amazon’s online prices for the first time, a key milestone in its effort to regain the "low price leader" title, data gathered for Reuters show.

Amazon shares closed up 0.8 percent, while Wal-Mart and Target Corp shares were about flat.

J.C. Penney Company Inc closed up three percent, and Macy’s Inc closed up 0.7 percent.

Adobe collects the data by measuring 80 percent of all online transactions from the top 100 U.S. retailers. Of every 10 dollars spent at the top 500 retailers, 7.50 dollars goes through the Adobe sales platform.

Source(s): Reuters