Adobe Reports $257.8 Billion Holiday Season As Consumers Embrace Generative Ai And Flexible Payments

Consumers spent $257.8 billion online during the 2025 holiday shopping period, according to Adobe, with mobile devices driving more than half of all purchases and generative Ai tools contributing a sharp rise in traffic to retail websites.

The figures, drawn from Adobe Analytics data covering over one trillion retail visits and 100 million SKUs across 18 categories, reflect a 6.8 per cent year-on-year increase from 2024.

Mobile Transactions Hit New Milestones

Adobe reported that 25 individual days exceeded $4 billion in sales during the two-month period from 1 November to 31 December. That compares to 18 such days during the same period in 2024.

Mobile accounted for 56.4 per cent of all online transactions this season, up from 54.5 per cent last year. The highest mobile activity was on Christmas Day, when 66.5 per cent of purchases were made via smartphones, followed by Thanksgiving Day at 61.6 per cent.

Cyber Week, the five-day window from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, contributed $44.2 billion of the total. Cyber Monday remained the peak online sales day, generating $14.25 billion, while Black Friday grew faster, reaching $11.8 billion, up 9.1 per cent year-on-year.

Discounting And High-Value Items Drove Spend

Aggressive discounting across major categories encouraged consumers to trade up, according to Adobe.

Electronics discounts peaked at 30.9 per cent off list price, followed by toys at 29.6 per cent, apparel at 25.1 per cent and televisions at 24.3 per cent. Computers, sporting goods, appliances and furniture also saw discount rates near or above 20 per cent.

This drove a higher share of sales in premium segments. Unit sales of the most expensive goods rose 20 per cent overall, with category-specific spikes including:

• 56 per cent in electronics
  
  
• 55 per cent in sporting goods
  
  
• 38 per cent in appliances
  
  
• 34 per cent in personal care
  
  
• 29 per cent in tools

Buy Now Pay Later Hits $20 Billion

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services were used to pay for $20 billion in online purchases, up 9.8 per cent from the previous year. Smartphone users accounted for 82.2 per cent of BNPL transactions.

Cyber Monday set a single-day BNPL record at $1.03 billion. An Adobe survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers indicated BNPL was most commonly used for electronics, apparel, toys and furniture.

Generative Ai Drives Discovery

Generative Ai tools helped drive a 693.4 per cent increase in traffic to retail sites. On Cyber Monday alone, Ai-driven traffic grew by 670 per cent year-on-year.

The tools, often embedded in chat services and browsers, were mostly used to explore deals in categories such as video games, toys, appliances, electronics and personal care.

“Consumers embraced generative Ai more than ever as a shopping assistant in their purchasing decisions,” said Vivek Pandya, Lead Analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “Competitive discounts and flexible payment options like Buy Now Pay Later also contributed to driving record spend.”

Returns And Category Trends

Returns declined 1.2 per cent from the prior year. However, return activity increased by 4.7 per cent in the week following Christmas, with one in seven returns logged during that window. Desktop remained the preferred platform for returns, despite mobile leading purchase volume.

Over half of total spend came from three categories:

• Electronics: $59.8 billion, up 8.2 per cent
  
  
• Apparel: $49 billion, up 7.4 per cent
  
  
• Furniture: $31.1 billion, up 6.6 per cent
  

Other high-growth categories included:

• Cosmetics: $8.4 billion, up 9.3 per cent
  
  
• Groceries: $23.7 billion, up 10.2 per cent
  
  
• Sporting goods: $8.4 billion, up 7.7 per cent
  
  
• Toys: $8.8 billion, up 7.8 per cent

Marketing Spend Shifted Toward Social

Social media channels accounted for 4.6 per cent of online sales revenue, a 40.3 per cent year-on-year rise. Revenue from affiliates and partners, which includes influencers, increased to 20.4 per cent, up from 17.6 per cent in 2024.

While paid search and email remained key drivers, Adobe said shoppers are increasingly discovering products through social platforms.

High-Demand Product Categories

Online sales grew sharply for specific products compared to October pre-season levels:

• Video games: up 415 per cent
  
  
• Hand tools: up 395 per cent
  
  
• Refrigerators and freezers: up 360 per cent
  
  
• Home security products: up 360 per cent
  
  
• Washers and dryers: up 350 per cent
  
  
• Bracelets: up 335 per cent
  
  
• Headphones and speakers: up 320 per cent
  
  
• Puzzles and boxed games: up 300 per cent
  
  
• Fragrance: up 295 per cent
  
  
• Holiday decor: up 285 per cent
  
  
• Smartwatches: up 285 per cent
  
  
• Power tools: up 280 per cent
  
  
• Earrings: up 275 per cent

Top-Selling Items

Popular toys included LEGO Icons sets, Wicked dolls, Furreal plush, LeapFrog Learning kits, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price Little People, Bluey Playsets, Nerf guns, Play-Doh and DIY craft kits.

Gaming console demand was led by XBox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation Portal. Top game titles included Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Pokémon Legends, NBA 2K26 and Donkey Kong Bonanza.

Other hot sellers included Sony A7IV mirrorless cameras, Apple Watch Series 11, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, stainless-steel tumblers, cookware sets, fragrance bundles, air fryers, cordless vacuums and luggage sets.

Curbside Pickup Declined Slightly

Curbside pickup was used for 17.1 per cent of online orders, slightly down from 17.5 per cent in 2024. Use of the option peaked on 23 December, the day before Christmas Eve, accounting for 39 per cent of orders for retailers offering the service.

Last Updated on January 8, 2026 by Nick Ross