U.S. consumers spent a record-breaking $14.25 billion online this Cyber Monday, according to new Adobe Analytics data, with Buy Now Pay Later usage surpassing $1 billion for the first time.
Cyber Monday sets new online spending high
Cyber Monday 2025 has officially become the biggest online shopping day in history, Adobe reported, with spending rising 7.1% year over year and exceeding the company’s projection of $14.2 billion. Shoppers were especially active during the peak window of 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., when they spent an astonishing $16 million per minute.
Adobe’s analysis draws on more than one trillion retail site visits and 100 million product SKUs, covering 18 categories — making it one of the most comprehensive snapshots of U.S. ecommerce activity available.
Discounts appear to have been a major catalyst. Electronics were discounted by as much as 31%, toys by 28%, and apparel by 25%, with strong deals continuing into the first week of December.
Across the five-day Cyber Week period — from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — consumers spent $44.2 billion, a 7.7% increase year over year. Notably, Black Friday sales rose 9.1% to $11.8 billion, outpacing Cyber Monday’s growth rate for the second consecutive year. Adobe attributes this shift to retailers pushing more aggressive early-season promotions.
Thanksgiving Day and the surrounding weekend also delivered strong results, generating $6.4 billion (up 5.3% YoY) and $11.8 billion (up 8.7% YoY) respectively. Adobe now expects the full November–December 2025 holiday season to reach $253.4 billion in online spend, a 5.3% increase.
Buy Now Pay Later hits $1.03B on Cyber Monday
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) usage reached an all-time high on Cyber Monday, with consumers financing $1.03 billion in purchases — a 4.2% year-over-year increase. Adobe notes that nearly 80% of BNPL transactions occurred on mobile devices, underscoring the continued dominance of smartphone-led shopping.
Surveyed consumers said they were most likely to use BNPL for electronics, apparel, toys, and furniture — categories that also dominated overall ecommerce spending.
AI tools and social media steer shoppers toward deals
Generative AI tools played a notable role this year: Adobe recorded a 670% increase in AI-driven clicks to retail sites on Cyber Monday and a 760% rise across the holiday season to date. While AI-assisted shopping is still emerging, Adobe says the surge reflects growing consumer comfort with using chat-based assistants to hunt for deals.
Social media also saw standout growth. Its share of online revenue hit 3.6%, up 56.5% year over year — a sharp jump that suggests influencer-driven and organic content is increasingly shaping purchase decisions. Revenue attributed to affiliates and partners, including influencers, reached 21.8%.
“U.S. retailers leaned heavily on discounts this holiday season to drive online demand,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. He added that consumers are “increasingly savvy in finding the best deals” and are turning to AI-powered tools for support.
Why this matters to ecommerce merchants
For online retailers, Adobe’s findings highlight both opportunity and risk. Record spending suggests that demand remains resilient — but it is increasingly fuelled by steep discounting, which may pressure margins, especially for smaller retailers. The surge in BNPL adoption shows that flexible payment options are now an expectation, not a bonus. And with AI assistants and social platforms driving more discovery, merchants may need to diversify beyond traditional paid search to stay visible.
Most importantly, the data reinforces a clear trend: shoppers are starting earlier, moving faster, and expecting frictionless checkout on mobile. Merchants who adapt their pricing strategies, mobile UX, and AI-driven search visibility will be best positioned to capture next year’s Cyber Week momentum.
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Matt Walsh is the Head of Content at Ecommercetrix. He also creates video content for the site and its associated YouTube channel.
Having gained a degree in Literature and Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin and an MA in International Relations from Dublin City University, Matt worked in the marketing world for a decade before taking up an education role — teaching languages, literature and creative writing in London.
Matt is an Adobe Certified Associate in Photoshop and Illustrator, and also holds a certificate in digital marketing from DMI (Digital Marketing Institute), along with a postgraduate certificate in Design Thinking, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creative Thinking from Trinity College Dublin.