Black Friday Data Shows US Shoppers Spent $10.8 Bln Online

A woman and a child look at shops in a mall on Black Friday in Arlington, Virginia on November 29, 2024. (AFP)
A woman and a child look at shops in a mall on Black Friday in Arlington, Virginia on November 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Black Friday Data Shows US Shoppers Spent $10.8 Bln Online

A woman and a child look at shops in a mall on Black Friday in Arlington, Virginia on November 29, 2024. (AFP)
A woman and a child look at shops in a mall on Black Friday in Arlington, Virginia on November 29, 2024. (AFP)

US shoppers used their mobile phones, laptops, desktops and other devices to make roughly $10.8 billion in purchases online on Black Friday, an updated tally from Adobe Analytics showed.

Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, marks the official start of the holiday shopping season for retailers and competition has intensified among retailers to win every penny-pinched shopper seeking discounts.

Increased online shopping potentially favors e-commerce giants such as Amazon.com and Walmart. Walmart, which operates 4,700 US stores, has invested heavily in store-to-home deliveries for the holiday season to boost e-commerce.

US spending online on Black Friday rose 10.2%, said Adobe, which keeps track of devices that use its software to help power more than 1 trillion visits to  US retail sites.

Corey Coscioni, 58, said he looked for bargains online as well as in stores on Black Friday, seeking "gifts for everyone: my wife, my daughter, and myself."

Top selling merchandise online included makeup, skincare and haircare products, as well as bluetooth speakers and espresso machines, Adobe said on Saturday.

Online sales of toys rose 622% compared to average daily sales in October, while jewelry sales rose 561% and appliances spiked 476% compared to October, it added.

Department store chains such as Macy's and Kohl's as well as big-box retailer Target could see muted sales this season, which is shorter with only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In 2023, US shoppers spent $9.8 billion online on Black Friday, and in 2022, they spent $9.1 billion, Adobe said.



Egypt's Net Foreign Assets Slid in October

A general view shows Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)
A general view shows Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)
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Egypt's Net Foreign Assets Slid in October

A general view shows Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)
A general view shows Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt July 13, 2020. (Reuters)

Egypt's net foreign assets (NFAs) dropped by $1.12 billion in October after a rise in September, central bank data shows.

NFAs declined to the equivalent of $9.21 billion at the end of October from $10.33 billion at the end of September, according to Reuters calculations based on the official central bank currency rates. The decline followed a $591 million gain in September.

Egypt had been using NFAs, which include foreign assets at both the central bank and commercial banks, to help to prop up its currency since as long ago as September 2021.

NFAs turned negative in February 2022 and only returned to positive territory in May this year.

Foreign assets rose at the central bank in October but dipped at commercial banks while foreign liabilities climbed at both commercial banks and the central bank.