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Black Friday saw a record spend of $1.2 billion (£0.73 billion) in the US, according to market tracker comScore.
The total makes the annual sales event the first billion-dollar day for the season, and the heaviest online spending day to date.
Compared to last year’s Black Friday, this year saw a rise of 15 per cent, with Thanksgiving Day (November 28th) also seeing a sales boost, growing by 21 per cent to $766 million (£466.6 million).
The sales day’s success seems to have been replicated in the UK, with John Lewis seeing a sales boost of almost a fifth (18.4 per cent), fuelled by Black Friday deals including iPads, PS4 consoles and televisions.
"While Black Friday – and now Thanksgiving Day – is the traditional kick-off to the brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season, both days continue to grow in importance on the online channel," commented comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
"Clearly many consumers prefer to avoid the crowds and lines typically associated with Black Friday by shopping from the comfort of their own homes, and we saw a record 66 million Americans do that this year.”
“Also interesting is that the recent trend of kick-starting holiday shopping by opening stores on Thanksgiving Day seems to be having a spillover effect on the online channel. Thanksgiving once again posted a well above average growth rate and is the fastest-growing online shopping day over the past five years, as more Americans opt for couch commerce following their Thanksgiving Day festivities."
66.1 million Americans visited online retailers on Black Friday, 16 per cent more than in 2012. Attracting the most clicks was Amazon, with eBay in second.
Consumers seeking technology seemed to fare well during the sales, with computer hardware seeing almost a fifth (19 per cent) of the money spent and consumer electronics grabbing 7 per cent.
“Computer hardware is outperforming its baseline market share for the prior ten months,” added the comScore report.
Apparel and accessories were the biggest categories, attracting 28 per cent of online dollar sales.
Image of Black Friday growth courtesy of Shutterstock.co.uk
