Consumer spending up almost 10% with online sales events

Consumer spending was up 9.9% on the first day — July 8 — of Amazon Prime Days compared with the first day in 2024, according to Adobe. U.S. online sales totaled $7.9 billion on July 8, the largest daily tally so far in 2025, Adobe noted.

Tuesday marked the beginning of Amazon’s four-day sales promotion event.

Sales also surpassed the $6.1 billion online sales recorded during 2024 Thanksgiving events. Based on the strong first-day performance, Adobe forecasts that U.S. retailers will garner $23.8 billion in online sales from July 8 to 11, representing a 28.4% growth rate from the same period last year.

Adobe said this is equivalent to two Black Fridays, which generated $10.8 billion in online sales during the 2024 holiday season. Retail analysts have said consumers are buying ahead of higher prices likely to be imposed by tariffs and uncertain trade policies under the Trump administration.

Adobe reports that 50.2% of the July 8 online sales came through a mobile device. Appliances sales were up 135% compared to the average daily sales in June. Electronics sales rose 95%, and tools and home improvement sales increased 85% from the average daily sales last month. Other categories showing large sales gains include home and garden sales (up 75%), furniture sales (up 55%), apparel sales (up 45%), and toy sales (up 35%).

Products with large sales gains included a 260% rise in home security devices, 200% gain in refrigerators and freezers sales, 180% gain in computer sales, and with headphones and speaker sales rising 155% from the average daily spend in June.

Back-to-school spending on clothing was up 305% from the average daily sales in June. Sales were up 190% for school supplies — backpacks, lunchboxes, stationery — and up 105% for dorm essentials, according to Adobe.

Buy now, pay later orders accounted for 6.4% of online orders and drove $613.4 million in revenue, up 13.6% year over year.

Adobe predicts spending during the four-day event will be driven by net-new demand, as opposed to higher prices. The Adobe Digital Price Index, which tracks online prices across 18 product categories, shows that e-commerce prices have fallen for 34 months, down 2.1% year-over-year in June 2025. Adobe’s numbers are not adjusted for inflation, but if online inflation were factored in, there would be higher growth in total consumer spend.

Numerator reports that its data shows the average order size from Tuesday’s sales events was $58.37, down 1.7% from a year ago. Numerator also reports that average household spending on the first day was $106.41, down 3.6% from a year ago.

Other retailers compete with Amazon’s summer sales event. Walmart’s six-day deals sales event also began on Tuesday and Target’s Circle Week kicked off July 6. Best Buy’s Black Friday in July event began Monday, a day ahead of Prime Day.