Black Friday Online Sales Hit Record $7.4B, as Consumer Sentiment Remains High

Online sales on Black Friday—a day traditionally seen as kicking off the U.S. holiday season—has seen a jump compared to previous years, hitting a record of $7.4 billion in transactions while fewer people showed up at physical store locations, according to data from Adobe Analytics.

Purchases made on phones accounted for 39 percent of online sales on Black Friday and 61% of all online traffic. This coming Cyber Monday, Adobe expects online sales to break another record with an estimated total of $9.4 billion.

Online sales were up by more than 19.6 percent over last year, according to Adobe, which tracks transactions at 80 of the top 100 U.S. retailers. On Thanksgiving, Adobes estimated sales grew 14.5 percent to $4.2 billion.

Under the Trump administration, consumer sentiment in 30 of the past 35 months remained high, with the Sentiment Index recorded at 95 or higher—”a level of optimism second only to when the index was above 100 for 34 out of 36 months from January 1998 to December 2000,” according to recent data from the University of Michigan.

Numbers from ShopperTrak, which is part of retail data firm Sensormatic Solutions, showed that visits to stores fell a combined 3 percent during Thanksgiving and Black Friday compared with the same days in 2018.

Meanwhile, for the first time in several years, store traffic on Thanksgiving evening grew by 2.3 percent, when compared to last year, a sign of how the holiday has continued to hurt sales on Black Friday.

Consumer confidence was also positive in relation to peoples personal finances. Fifty-four percent of all households reported that their finances had recently improved, according to data from a survey by the University of Michigan.

In the past 50 years, there have only been nine other surveys that recorded a higher percentage, with the largest recorded number just three percentage points higher at 57 percent.

The steady stream of positive economic news under the Trump administration is more important to most Americans than the impeachment probe, according to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) who made the remarks during a Nov. 29 appearance on Fox News.

“At the end of the day, I think voters are concerned about their own needs, their own challenges, their own opportunity in their lives,” Gaetz said. “And if you look at the Trump economy, the hottest in the world, its creating that opportunity for Americans each and every day.”

Last month, President Donald Trump criticized Democrats for using the impeachment probe as a political tool to distract from the good news.

“The Do Nothing Democrats are working hard to make everyone forget the Best Economy Ever, the monumental weekend raid, Tax Cuts, the Rebuilding of our Military, etc,” he said on Twitter. “The Impeachment Hoax is a disgrace. Read the transcript!”

The Do Nothing Democrats are working hard to make everyone forget the Best Economy Ever, the monumental weekend raid, Tax Cuts, the Rebuilding of our Military, etc. The Impeachment Hoax is a disgrace. Read the transcript!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2019

Meanwhile, the National Read More – Source