Thanksgiving will be mobile's biggest shopping day this year: Adobe
Just as fast as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal previews keep dropping, so do the predictions for online and mobile shopping rates.
While the numbers don't always line up, many of the trends postulated by IBM on Wednesday are in concurrence with those of Adobe on Thursday.
That narrows down to the following takeaways: Online shopping rates are showing no signs of slowing down and mobile devices are going to be employed by consumers more than ever before.
And, perhaps on more of a depressing note, Thanksgiving itself is going to be more about tuning into flash sales than football games and family meals as the fourth Thursday of November is projected to rival Cyber Monday (rather than Black Friday) in higher traffic and sales.
In fact, Adobe pinpointed that these sales will actually get started on the Monday before Thanksgiving with average sales of 20 percent of regular list prices that whole week.
For consumers plotting their holiday shopping warpaths, Adobe analysts projected online prices will hit "rock bottom" on Thanksgiving Day, offering lower prices than on any other day during the holiday season with an average discount of 24 percent.
Adobe added that those prices will go back up again on the Tuesday after Cyber Monday, which is December 1.
Analysts predicted that Thanksgiving Day will produce "record sales," growing 27 percent year-over-year to $1.35 billion. In all likelihood, Black Friday will still triumph over the day before with $2.48 billion in online sales, growing 28 percent annually.
But Cyber Monday is expected to reap the most online sales with $2.60 billion, growing 15 percent from 2013.
As far as mobile goes, Adobe projected that Thanksgiving Day itself (November 27) "will be the most mobile shopping day of year" — likely due to stores being closed, second-screen activity during NFL games, and consumers sneaking in some shopping under the dinner table.
That said, Adobe expects roughly a third (31 percent) of online sales will be generated via smartphones and tablets, up from 21 percent last year, producing $418 million on Thanksgiving alone.
Mobile sales should blossom on Black Friday with $644 million in expected sales and then $520 million on Cyber Monday when consumers are back at their desktop computers at work.