Cyber Monday sales biggest online shopping day in U.S. history

By Siddharth Cavale

REUTERS - Shoppers spent $3.45 billion on Cyber Monday on Samsung 4K TVs, PlayStation 4s and Barbie dolls among other products, marking the largest online sales day in U.S. history.

The data compiled by Adobe Digital Insights, easily surpassed prior estimates, and dismissed fears that strong web sales during the Thanksgiving weekend would hurt sales on Cyber Monday - the busiest day of the year for internet shopping historically.

It also underscored the broader shift to shopping online, which is making up for slower spending in stores.

Cyber Monday sales jumped 12.1 percent year-over-year and surpassed initial expectations that called for total sales of $3.36 billion, according to Adobe Digital Insights.

Top-selling electronics by units on the day include Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox gaming consoles as well as Samsung 4K TVs, Apple iPhones and Amazon's Fire tablets.

Lego's building blocks, Hasbro's Nerf dart guns and Mattel's Barbie dolls were among top-selling toys, Adobe said.

Adobe collects the data by measuring 80 percent of all online transactions from the top 100 U.S. retailers. Of every $10 spent at the top 500 U.S. retailers, $7.50 goes through the Adobe Marketing Cloud sales platform.

(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)