Black Friday online sales hit new high

U.S. retailers reported record online sales over Black Friday and Thanksgiving in 2017, which are projected to rise even more for Cyber Monday.

Reuters reported that retail data gathered by Adobe Analytics indicates that Cyber Monday, a day of widespread online sales that will fall on Nov. 27 this year, could end up being the largest day of online sales in U.S. retail history.

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Retailers reported $7.9 billion in online sales over Thursday and Friday, and Monday’s day of sales is projected to hit $6.6 billion.

Consumer analysts told the news service that this year’s biggest sellers included electronics and toys, particularly Sony’s Playstation 4 video game console.

Despite projections that brick-and-mortar sales would drop by a larger amount this year, initial estimates point to a less than 1 percent drop in sales from in-store purchases over the holidays.

“There has been a significant amount of debate surrounding the shifting importance of brick-and-mortar retail,” ShopperTrak senior director of advisory services Brian Field told Reuters.

“The fact that shopper visits remained intact on Black Friday illustrates that physical retail is still highly relevant and when done right, it is profitable.”

U.S. stocks closed high after a half-day session on Black Friday, with major gains by tech companies like Amazon leading the way.

Shares in Amazon, Inc. gained 2.6 percent alone on Friday after reports of strong sales for the major online retailer, marking the company’s third-straight record close.