US online holiday sales to hit $124 billion: Adobe

Just as fast as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal previews start dropping, so to do the predictions for online shopping rates. New research from Adobe suggests online sales will hit a record-breaking $124.1 billion during the 2018 holiday season, an increase of nearly 15 percent above last year's totals.

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Stores with both an online and physical footprint will come away with the biggest sales gains, according to Adobe. These dual-presence retailers could see a 28 percent increase in conversion rates compared to retailers who are solely online. Brick and mortar only retailers will see a smaller sales increase of around 2.7 percent.

"As online shopping surges with another record-breaking holiday season, the retailers with compelling websites coupled with physical store locations will have the advantage," said John Copeland, head of marketing and customer insights at Adobe in a statement. "Many shoppers want to interact with retailers' products and the brand in-store, and the ability to pick up online orders in-store within a matter of hours can't be underestimated."

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When it comes to mobile, Adobe projects that roughly 48 percent of online store visits will come from smartphones while around 9 percent from tablets. However, cart abandonment is expected to be significantly higher on smartphones as compared to desktop due to poor checkout experiences.

In terms of timing, Cyber Monday is poised to best Black Friday in overall sales to become the biggest online shopping day of the 2018, with $7.7 billion in sales. This will be the third straight year that Cyber Monday comes out on top of big brother Black Friday. Adobe projects that Thanksgiving Day itself will bring in retail sales of $3.3 billion.

For consumers plotting their holiday shopping strategy, Adobe expects Black Friday to have the best deals on electronics, while Cyber Monday will bring the lowest prices for apparel, appliances and jewelry.

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