US shoppers spent a record amount online during the holiday season, a new report has found.

According to a study from Adobe Analytics, shoppers in the country spent a record $211.7 billion between November and the end of December. This was an improvement from a previously forecasted total of $209.7 billion, and up 3.5 per cent year-over-year.

The report points to strong discounts offered during the period as a means of luring inflation-weary consumers into spending. Retailers such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy offered early discounts in an effort to get rid of excess stock and spur demand.

The biggest discounts were for toys, the report said. Toy discounts peaked at 34 per cent off listed price versus 19 per cent in 2022. Electronics also were highly discounted by as much as 25 per cent versus 8 per cent last year.

The report noted that Cyber Week – the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday – saw consumer spend a total of $35.3 billion online.

Vivek Pandya, lead analyst, Adobe Digital Insights, said: "At a time when consumers were dealing with elevated prices in areas such as food, gas, and rent, holiday discounts were strong enough to sustain discretionary spending through the entire season.”

In-demand products for the 2022 holiday season included Apple Airpods, PlayStation and Xbox games consoles, Hot Wheels toys and the Sony videogame God of War Ragnarök.

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