• TikTok Shop saw over $100 million in single-day sales on Black Friday, a spokesperson told BI.
• Creators and sellers hosted over 30,000 livestream sessions during the day.
• TikTok has been pushing e-commerce this year as it tries to break into a market dominated by Amazon.

TikTok's second Black Friday in the US shows it's starting to drive real holiday spending, even though it remains a small fraction of overall e-commerce activity.

On Friday, the company drove over $100 million in US sales on its e-commerce platform Shop, a company spokesperson told Business Insider. Shoppers tuned into over 30,000 live-selling sessions on the app that day, with the content creator and Canvas Beauty founder Stormi Steele earning $2 million in a single livestream, the spokesperson said. A representative for Canvas Beauty confirmed the livestream figure and said the company sold over 100,000 products and grossed more than $3 million across all sales during Black Friday.

Live shopping is a major focus at TikTok. The company has been pushing its sellers and creators to test out the format, which drives billions in sales in more established social-shopping markets like China.

Nico Le Bourgeois, TikTok Shop's head of US operations, told BI in late October that he hoped live shopping would break through this holiday season.

"We want people to discover new products," Le Bourgeois said. "To be surprised. To feel like shopping can be different. And as a part of that, if we can have many customers shop in live and realize that this is really cool, I think we will have done a good job."

The most popular Black Friday product categories were fashion, beauty, and home, the TikTok spokesperson said. Other top sellers on TikTok Shop's Black Friday were Tarte Cosmetics and lifestyle retailer Miniso, they added.

Overall, TikTok's sales were a small piece of the holiday shopping pie. Black Friday sales in the US hit $10.8 billion on Friday, a roughly 10% increase from 2023, according to Adobe Analytics.

Last year, across the full US holiday shopping season, Amazon drove around $104 billion in US holiday sales, while Walmart hit about $20 billion in US e-commerce sales during that holiday period, according to eMarketer estimates.

TikTok Shop is still a relative newcomer in the e-commerce world, having launched in the US in the fall of 2023. Established retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, which offered millions of holiday deals throughout November, likely drove a good chunk of overall US Black Friday activity.

Still, TikTok has been gaining traction in the US in recent months, particularly among young adults. The company invested heavily in its product over the last two years. Its parent company, ByteDance, likely hopes to replicate the social-shopping success of TikTok's sister app in China, Douyin, which drives billions in annual sales.

TikTok did not release US Black Friday sales data last year. But sellers told BI that some smaller and midsize brands saw big returns during the holiday event, while some larger brands were hesitant to test out a new platform during a critical earnings period.

In 2024, TikTok appears to have drawn in a wider variety of sellers to join its holiday push, which runs between November 13 and 28. TikTok Shop featured holiday discounts from brands like electronics maker Phillips, Fenty Beauty, and Maybelline NY, for example.

Ultimately, TikTok's e-commerce momentum could be abruptly cut off if the company ends up being sold or removed from app stores in early 2024 due to a law set by Congress that comes due in January.

• Thanksgiving online spending hit $6.1 billion, driven in part by mobile device purchases.
• More shoppers are using buy now, pay later, with $993 million in sales using the method expected Cyber Monday.
• About 80% of those purchases were made on a phone.

This year, more shoppers than ever are using buy now, pay later options that let buyers pay for purchases in installments — and more often than not from their cell phones.

According to new data from Adobe, buy now, pay later accounted for $6.9 billion in holiday spending from November 1 to November 28, with nearly 80% of purchases made on mobile devices.

On Black Friday, buy now, pay later is expected to rack up $711.3 million in sales by midnight — a 12.8% increase year over year. And come Cyber Monday, Adobe forecasts a record-breaking single day of buy now, pay later spending — $993 million.

Overall, shoppers are spending more than ever this Thanksgiving, with $6.1 billion spent online, according to Adobe. And roughly 60% of online consumers placed orders from their mobile devices.

"Cyber Week is off to a strong start, where bigger-than-expected discounts on Thanksgiving propelled impulse shopping in categories like electronics and apparel," Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement. "As people gathered with family and friends, many were hitting the buy button on their mobile devices, which hit an all-time high for the overall holiday season."

Buy now, pay later is available in many online stores via partnerships with companies like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna. They allow customers to pay a percentage of the total upfront and typically make interest-free payments over a set time.

A recent Harvard Business Review report found that buy now, pay later consumers spent an average of 10% more per purchase than they did without the option. And more often than not, those overspending were "financially constrained" credit-card-reliant consumers, according to the report.

BNPL has not been largely regulated, and the study warns that if consumers continue to spend more than they can afford on buy now, pay later purchases, they could accrue more debt.

• Adobe reports record $7.9 billion in online spending on Black Friday so far, up 8.2% from 2023.
• Adobe expects final online Black Friday numbers to be between $10.7 and $11 billion.
• Inflation and high credit card debt make consumers cautious, yet spending remains resilient.

Americans continued to spend on Black Friday after strong Thanksgiving sales numbers, even despite inflation concerns.

Adobe's initial Black Friday e-commerce data reveals consumers spent $7.9 billion online this Black Friday through 6:30 p.m. This total is up 8.2% compared to last year's value.

With spending expected to accelerate between 8 and 10 p.m., Adobe expects final online Black Friday numbers to be between a record $10.7 and $11 billion, in line with the $10.8 billion estimates from its Black Friday preview.

Shoppers were eager to buy skin and hair care products, air fryers, PlayStation 5 consoles, and Wicked-related toys. Black Friday sales continue to trend this holiday season with greater electronics, cosmetics, and appliance sales compared to average October 2024 sales, according to the data.

"Adobe is reaffirming its forecast that a new e-commerce record will be set on Black Friday and surge past the $10 billion mark," said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst of Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement. "This is being driven by big discounts in advance of Cyber Monday, as well as the continued acceleration of mobile commerce that is contributing to more impulse shopping."

However, many Americans are still cautious about spending as inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. As of October 2024, the inflation rate was 2.6% year over year.

Retail researchers told The Washington Post that though consumer spending has remained resilient, record-high credit card debt and sticker shock over the last few years have made consumers — particularly those who are lower- or middle-income — more intentional about spending and alert to price comparisons. Consumers continue to flock to discount retailers while going to some big box stores like Target less often.

Shoppers have been increasingly relying on buy-now-pay-later purchases. This Black Friday, consumers are expected to spend $711.3 million using BNPL online — up 12.8% year over year — and $430 million on Thanksgiving.

Adobe data shows that Thanksgiving spending hit a record high this year. This Thanksgiving, consumers spent $6.1 billion online, up 8.8% from last year's $5.6 billion. Nearly 60% of online sales were from a mobile device, with sales peaking between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Pandya said in a statement that this Thanksgiving had larger-than-anticipated discounts, which drove impulse shopping. Toys had discounts peak at 27.2% off the listed price, while apparel was 22.6%.

Consumers were willing to shell out hundreds of dollars on electronics, as Adobe data reveals the most expensive electronics goods had a 72% increase in the share of units sold compared to pre-season trends. Sporting goods increased by 44%, while appliances spiked by 36% compared to pre-season trends.

Adobe expects $5.2 billion in spending on Saturday, $5.6 billion on Sunday, and $13.2 billion on Cyber Monday, up 6.1% from last year.

Adobe is anticipating the greatest discounts on computers, peaking at 23% off the listed price. Adobe projects $40.6 billion in online spending this Cyber Week and $240.8 billion in total holiday spending.

• Even as online Black Friday shopping increases, people still formed lines at stores across the US.
• Crowds descended on stores like Best Buy and shopping centers like the American Dream mall.
• Target attracted in-person Black Friday shoppers with exclusive in-store Taylor Swift merchandise.

The ease of online shopping and the disruption of in-person events at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to impact attendance at Black Friday doorbuster sales, but shoppers still turned out at stores in large numbers this year.

In 2023, Black Friday online shopping hit a record high with a total of $9.8 billion spent — a 7.5% increase from 2022, according to an Adobe report.

Even so, shopping in person the day after Thanksgiving hasn't completely died out. Of the 131.7 million people expected to shop on Black Friday in 2024, 65% said they planned to shop at stores in person, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey.

Retailers like Target also drew customers to brick-and-mortar locations by releasing exclusive Taylor Swift merchandise in-store on Black Friday before making it available online the following day.

Take a look at Black Friday crowds across the US.

The parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, California, was already packed on Thursday night.

Shoppers lined up outside retailers like H&M, Kate Spade, and Tory Burch at Citadel Outlets to await their turn.

Lines formed outside Macy's flagship store in New York City early in the morning on Black Friday.

Target's exclusive Taylor Swift merchandise attracted a line of Swifties in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Fans picked up copies of "The Eras Tour Book" and exclusive versions of Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department."

Shoppers also waited outside Best Buy in Downey, California, in the early hours of the morning on Black Friday.

At the American Dream Mall in New Jersey, shoppers were drawn to experiences like its Nickelodeon Universe theme park, not just its stores.

Of course, the American Dream mall's retail offerings still proved popular.

• Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour Book" was released exclusively at Target on Black Friday.
• Swift self-published the book, which shows a behind-the-scenes look at her record-breaking tour.
• Shoppers lined up outside Target stores to buy the book and other Taylor Swift merchandise.

Taylor Swift fans lined up to purchase "The Eras Tour Book," a behind-the-scenes look at the singer's blockbuster tour that was released exclusively at Target on Black Friday.

The 256-page book retails for $39.99 and features over 500 photos of rehearsals, costumes, set pieces, and performances from her record-breaking Eras Tour, which became the highest-grossing tour of all time when it surpassed $1 billion in revenue.

Instead of working with a larger publisher, Swift self-published the book through her own imprint, Taylor Swift Publications, which printed 2 million copies, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A representative for Target told Business Insider that as of 10 a.m. ET on Black Friday, "The Eras Tour Book" was already the retailer's No. 1 new release and its highest-selling book of 2024.

In addition to "The Eras Tour Book," Target also stocked exclusive vinyl record and CD versions of "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," Swift's latest 35-track, two-part album. The vinyl retails for $59.99, and the CD costs $17.99.

Taylor Swift fans waited outside Target stores in the early hours of the morning on Black Friday for a chance to purchase the book and other exclusive merchandise. One location even created separate lines for the general public and Swifties who were just there to buy the book and album, a shopper wrote on X.

The Black Friday sales event comes after Target's disappointing third-quarter earnings. Both sales and earnings missed estimates, and the retailer cut its guidance.

The Eras Tour began on March 17, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, and will conclude in Vancouver on December 8.

November 29, 2024: This story has been modified with updated sales information provided by Target.

• Amazon workers in more than 20 countries are set to protest between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• It's the fifth year Amazon workers have protested during the major shopping weekend.
• The company has downplayed the actions while separately taking some steps to meet workers' demands.

Workers in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., are set to protest or strike between Black Friday and Cyber Monday over wages, working conditions, and Amazon's environmental impact.

The protests are part of the fifth annual Make Amazon Pay campaign, organized by a coalition of labor and progressive organizations.

In New Delhi, where employees said Amazon kept them working during a heat wave this spring, workers plan to march on Parliament demanding higher wages and job protections. Workers in several German warehouses are set to walk off the job.

In New York City, workers affiliated with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union are marching on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' penthouse.

Have the protests worked?

Yes and no.

Amazon has downplayed the protests, characterizing them as small-scale and saying the labor groups organizing Make Amazon Pay are presenting a misleadingly negative portrait of working at the company.

"The fact is at Amazon we provide great pay, great benefits, and great opportunities—all from day one," spokesperson Eileen Hards said in a statement. "We've created more than 1.5 million jobs around the world, and counting, and we provide a modern, safe, and engaging workplace whether you work in an office or at one of our operations buildings."

Separately, it has also taken steps that respond to some of protesters' demands, though not all workers say they're pleased with the company's rate of progress.

As labor groups make inroads into Amazon's U.S. fulfillment network, the company has boosted wages and broadcast its commitment to safety.

Over the past year, the Teamsters Union has scored several organizing victories in Amazon's American logistics operation. The Amazon Labor Union, which represents roughly 5,500 workers in a Staten Island warehouse, voted in June to affiliate with the Teamsters. Delivery drivers and air hub operators in California, Kentucky, and Atlanta also joined the Teamsters.

In September, Amazon raised wages for warehouse and transportation workers to an average of $22 per hour. In a post on its website, the company did not cite labor activism as a reason for the raises, saying they were "part of an annual process where we review our wages and benefits to ensure that they stay competitive."

What about Amazon's climate footprint?

This summer, Amazon also announced that it had met an ambitious climate target, of "matching" the electricity consumed by its global operations with renewable energy, while reducing its carbon footprint 3% from the prior year.

The company said it met that target seven years earlier than it had anticipated, in part by becoming the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world.

Members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an organizing group of largely corporate workers, said the company's calculations did not include emissions from third-party merchants, who account for more than half the sales on Amazon's online store. Amazon has disputed the group's findings.

Amazon focused on "all the low-hanging fruit projects that it could. But now those are all done, and what we're seeing is they're not doing the hard stuff," Eliza Pan, a former Amazon employee and member of the climate group, told The Seattle Times in July.

Hards, the Amazon spokesperson, said Amazon is not done reducing its carbon footprint.

"Some actions will have immediate carbon savings, while others will take years to demonstrate results — and we will continue to invest in both proven and new science-backed solutions to help solve this crisis," Hards said.

What do the protests mean for Black Friday shopping?

Significant delays haven't occurred as a result of Make Amazon Pay protests in prior years, and it seems unlikely they will impact shipping times this year.

The holiday season is a significant revenue driver for the online retail giant. Amazon charted "record-breaking" holiday sales in the last three months of 2023. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on an earnings call earlier this year. The company reported $170 billion in revenue that quarter, up 14% from the year prior.