NEW YORK - US shoppers used their mobile phones, laptops, desktops and other devices to make roughly US$10.8 billion (S$14.4 billion) in purchases online on Black Friday, an updated tally from Adobe Analytics showed.

Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, marks the official start of the holiday shopping season for retailers and competition has intensified among retailers to win every penny-pinched shopper seeking discounts.

Increased online shopping potentially favours e-commerce giants such as Amazon.com and Walmart.

Walmart, which operates 4,700 US stores, has invested heavily in store-to-home deliveries for the holiday season to boost e-commerce.

US spending online on Black Friday rose 10.2 per cent, said Adobe, which keeps track of devices that use its software to help power more than one trillion visits to US retail sites.

Mr Corey Coscioni, 58, said he looked for bargains online as well as in stores on Black Friday, seeking “gifts for everyone: my wife, my daughter, and myself.”

Top selling merchandise online included makeup, skincare and haircare products, as well as bluetooth speakers and espresso machines, Adobe said on Nov 30.

Online sales of toys rose 622 per cent compared to average daily sales in October, while jewellery sales rose 561 per cent and appliances spiked 476 per cent compared to October, it added.

Department store chains such as Macy’s and Kohl’s as well as big-box retailer Target could see muted sales this season, which is shorter with only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In 2023, US shoppers spent US$9.8 billion online on Black Friday, and in 2022, they spent US$9.1 billion, Adobe said. AFP