For the first time, online Black Friday shopping actually decreased this year

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Black Friday has become a staple of the holiday season in the US and always has people opening their digital wallets for online deals on games, electronics, and more. This year, however, it seems Black Friday shopping has actually decreased just a bit according to a new report from Adobe.

The report shows that $8.9 billion was spent online this year on November 26, which is down from $9 billion last year. Last year’s impressive $9 billion blew 2019 out of the water, which had online spending at $7.4 billion.

The biggest factor here was obviously COVID-19 and lockdowns last year, but there is more to the picture. According to Vivek Pandya, the lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights (thanks, Verge), online shopping was more spread out this year, with many people being “strategic” in their holiday shopping.

Another factor in the decrease of Black Friday shopping could be the infamous supply chain, as Adobe’s report shows that out-of-stock messages saw a huge increase this year. Since January, stock shortages messages increased 124% with much of it focused on electronics and appliances.

The holiday shopping season is far from over, however, and today, Cyber Monday should see some massive online sales in the $10-11 billion range, according to Adobe.

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