Shoppers spend $7.4 billion online during Black Friday sales

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Black Friday shoppers spent $7.4 billion online Friday and $4.2 billion on Thanksgiving day, making it the second largest Internet shopping day ever, according to data compiled by Adobe Analytics. Receipts for Friday trail only last year's Cyber Monday's record-setting $7.9 billion in sales.

According to Adobe online sales are up about 20% from last year, suggesting shoppers are getting more comfortable making large purchases online. And they're more comfortable ordering from mobile devices: just under half, or $2.9 billion, of Friday's sales were purchases made using smart phones.

As of 9 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday, the small-business promotion Small Business Saturday had already pulled in $470 million in online spending. Adobe projects $9.4 billion in online sales on Monday during Cyber Monday promotions.

Retail sales at traditional brick-and-mortar stores are expected to grow 2% percent and 6% in December, according to an IBM analysis. Some large retailers have struggled this year, with shares at Kohl's, Gap and Macy's down 25% or more to date, but others have successfully weathered customers' increased preference for online shopping. Target's stock has risen by 95% and Walmart's is up about 30%.

Customers are increasingly likely to buy items online and pick them up in the store, according to Adobe's data, which says such transactions are up 43.2%.

Adobe Analytics measures transactions from 80 top U.S. online retailers.