Cyber Monday sales to top $11 bln

STORY: Cyber Monday - the biggest U.S. online shopping day - may break holiday spending records.

Amid stubbornly high inflation - consumers searched for discounts on everything from pajamas to Airpods...

According to the Adobe Analytics report, Cyber Monday sales could come in between $11.2 and $11.6 billion, an increase of up to 8.5% from a year earlier...

...reflecting pent-up demand...

as inflation-weary consumers have been putting off shopping for weeks in the hopes of deep markdowns.

FELTON: “...we just came out of a record-breaking Black Friday event, and we're rolling into Cyber Monday with more deals, better prices, better selection.”

John Felton is the senior vice president at Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer:

FELTON: "So a lot of Black Friday was...was very...I would say, very holiday deals. And so a lot of home, a lot of kitchen, a lot of apparel, kind of very gift-able items. Cyber Monday started out, I would say, probably a little more electronics-focused. So a lot of PS5s (PlayStation 5s), a lot of Xboxes, a lot of video games, a lot of headphones, earbuds. So but it's been, yeah, it's overall it feels like a very gifting holiday season, and people are excited to kind of...to try to find great deals and try to find the value on Amazon."

It's a big turnaround from last year - when Cyber Monday sales fell 1.4% as retailers spread out promotional deals across weeks from as early as October to better manage inventories amid widespread product shortages.

However, big single-day shopping events appear to be back in vogue this year, with major retailers including Target, Macy's, and Best Buy expecting a return to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.

According to Adobe, U.S. shoppers spent a record $9.12 billion online on Black Friday alone.

On Monday, shoppers will find record discounts for computers, peaking at 27% off listed price, while nearly all other categories, including apparel, toys and furniture, also have double-digit discounts, Adobe said.