Thanksgiving Day spending rose 22 percent this year: analysis

Thanksgiving Day spending rose 22 percent this year, as more shoppers hit doorbuster deals virtually rather than lining outside storefronts.

Spending on online shopping Thursday rose to $5.1 billion, nearly 22 percent compared to the same day last year, when shoppers recorded over $4.1 billion on the day in 2019. The increase marks a new record, Adobe Analytics, a company that analyzes web retail data, reported.

The data company reported historic shopping sales for November 2019, amounting to $142.4 billion in revenue, and this year Adobe predicts 2020 retail sales could rise to $189 billion.

On Saturday, the tracker reported $80.13 billion in revenue spent online thus far in the month of November.

The total has yet to log data for sales on Nov. 30, or Cyber Monday. 

News of the increase in online revenue comes as the coronavirus has forced many consumers to forgo the stores and purchase holiday gifts online this year. Online retail giants such as Amazon and Target have faired particularly well amid the pandemic because of their online presence. 

In addition, more top retailers across the U.S. changed their typical Black Friday sales strategy, spreading out sales throughout November rather than the usual flurry of doorbuster sales that drag consumers to storefronts after Thanksgiving dinner.

Walmart, Target and Amazon launched sales in mid-October, stretching into late November.

Analysts from eMarketer predicted holiday spending could jump up to 35 percent in online sales, Business Insider reported.