US online spending has surged 20% this month in sign of early shopping

Consumers are expected to spend between US$5.1bil (RM21.56bil) and US$5.9bil (RM24.94bil) online Thursday, which is Thanksgiving Day in the US. That would be a record. — 123rf.com

Online consumer spending jumped 20% this month through Tuesday in a sign that US holiday shopping has started early, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.

Purchases totaled US$72.2bil (RM305.22bil) during the period and toys were a key driver, Adobe said in a report released Wednesday on e-commerce trends in the US. Underscoring widespread shortages in supply, out-of-stock messages have more than tripled compared with November 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.