With the 2025 holiday season firmly behind us, data has emerged that shows just how much American online shoppers spent during the holidays. Spending of almost every type and in nearly every category rose, and the way people shop and perform research is also changing.
While the data from this report is limited to the holiday season, many of the stats and trends will carry over throughout other time periods, and it’s crucial for ecommerce brands to take note of the insights this data provides.
Holiday Online Spending Hits an All-Time Record
According to recent data released by Adobe, $257.8 billion was spent online by US consumers in the 2025 holiday season, which is the time period between November 1st and December 31st. This is an all-time high and the first quarter-trillion-dollar holiday season for ecommerce.
Holiday spending has been rising considerably over the past few years, and 2025 was no different, as holiday sales were 6.8% higher than they were in 2024.
Spending is Up Across the Board
Nearly every type, kind, and category of spending rose in the 2025 holiday season compared to past years. This includes around $1 billion more spent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday respectively than in 2024, and higher general spending on toys, apparel, electronics, furniture and home goods, grocery, cosmetics, and sporting goods.
Mobile revenue share during the holidays was 56.4%, and mobile spend during the holidays reached $145.2 billion, which is a 10.7% jump from 2024. Similarly, buy-now pay-later (BNPL) spending also saw a massive increase of 9.8%, going from $18.2 billion in 2024 to $20 billion in 2025.
In addition to spending, AI ecommerce traffic also skyrocketed this holiday season, with a 693.4% increase year-over-year.
Takeaways for Ecommerce Brands
This data offers several valuable takeaways for ecommerce brands. First, it shows the incredible number of people who are using AI for ecommerce compared to last year, which highlights the importance of brands optimizing product descriptions and listings to help their products appear in AI search results.
The research also highlighted the increased usage of mobile devices as shopping tools, which shows how crucial it is for your ecommerce site or store to look good, perform well, and load quickly on phones and tablets.
Finally, the increased BNPL spending shows that customers desire more payment options and want the ability to make larger purchases more manageable, as opposed to being forced to pay everything up front.
The data also shared some trending products that give brands a sense of what people are shopping for. Some of these trending products include:
- Toys like LEGO sets, DIY craft kits, Hot Wheels, and LeapFrog Learning toys.
- Electronics like smartphones, digital cameras, Bluetooth headphones, and smart watches.
- Additional hot products like video game consoles, skin care kits, coffee makers, luggage sets, and air fryers.
This data provides plenty of useful insights for ecommerce brands, and while it’s limited to the holiday season, many of these stats and trends could very easily carry over into other time periods.
For example, I believe things like AI-driven ecommerce traffic and mobile spend aren’t going anywhere, and are going to continue to rise, even outside the high-sales periods like the holidays.
