$6.6B Cyber Monday may follow record Black Friday

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. retailers are expected to continue raking in holiday spending cash Monday, three days after notching record sales on Black Friday.

Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks online spending at the United States' 100 largest retail websites, projects up to $6.6 billion could be spent online Monday -- a 16 percent increase over last year.

As of 10 a.m. EST, online sales Monday were $840 million, up 16.9 percent over the same timeframe in 2016, Adobe said.

Sales on Cyber Monday, begun in 2005, have grown to the point that online sales are an important part of overall sales at the start of the holiday shopping season.

Adobe analyst Tamara Gaffney said most online sales occur late on Cyber Monday when shoppers know precisely what they want and when they're aware the deals will end by midnight.

Last year, $658 billion was spent on holiday shopping, the National Retail Federation said, noting that online sales accounted for $123 billion of that total -- and the share of online sales this year is expected to increase.

Like Black Friday, though, many retailers offered online deals that last throughout November instead of limiting them to a single day, potentially reducing Cyber Monday's impact.

Websites offer price guides of discounted merchandise at competing websites. TheVerge.com reported that Walmart offers large discounts on PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X devices, and eBay has notable deals on Apple MacBook Pro and Google Home.

Adobe Digital Insights said a record $5.6 billion was spent online on Black Friday.