Oct. 29 (UPI) — Projected sales figures indicate shoppers may spend their way to a new record economic level this holiday season, which begins Friday.
Adobe Analytics said in an analysis Tuesday that online holiday shopping could approach $150 billion for the period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. The study projects $143 billion in online sales, and more than $9 billion on Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — alone.
Digital sales could reach $7.5 billion on Black Friday and $4.4 billion on Thanksgiving Day — which would both represent a 20 percent increase over last year.
Hot items, the report says, include the video game consoles Nintendo Switch Lite and the SEGA Genesis Mini.
The holiday shopping season will be six days shorter this year because Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday in late November. The condensed period, Adobe says, means online sales will top $1 billion per day in November and December, for the first time.
“The compressed shopping cycle will see retailers launching offers far earlier than ever before,” Adobe marketing and customer insight director John Copeland said in a statement.
Americans are projected to spend an additional $14 billion on their smartphones this year.
The National Retail Federation projected on Tuesday holiday sales will grow by as much as 5 percent this year — and total as much as $730 billion. The trade conflict between the United States and China could significantly impact final sales, it added.