US Black Friday online sales total reaches a record $3.34 billion

Online sales already hit a record high on Black Friday, a day where in-store purchasing is traditionally encouraged.

The firm said more than ever before, shoppers used their mobile devices to dial up deals online, and mobile purchases surged 33 percent on Black Friday to $1.2 billion.

Black Friday and Thanksgiving shoppers increasingly relied on the small screen as mobile traffic dominated online sales, according to data compiled from various sources.

After what appeared to be a strong turnout for Thanksgiving sales, some early morning reports indicate that traffic to malls may be slower on Black Friday than past year as retailers spread the deals out throughout the week.

Cyber Monday may be in danger of losing its online sales title.

Rhonda Alexander, a good friend of McDonald’s who joins her for Black Friday shopping every year, agreed, saying that she’s gotten to the point where online shopping is as much a part of her holiday shopping routine as shopping in person.

The US National Retail Federation has projected that about 137.4 million consumers will make purchases in stores or online over the four-day weekend that started on Thanksgiving, marking the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Mobile is driving the majority of visits to retail websites on Black Friday at 55 percent (45 percent coming from smartphones, 10 percent from tablets), while accounting for 36 percent of sales (25 percent smartphones, 11 percent tablets). Mobile purchases made up 41 percent of e-commerce orders on Thanksgiving, up from 37 percent past year, Rakuten found.

The migration of consumers from stores to online shopping over the crucial Thanksgiving-Black Friday weekend continued dramatically this year, adding to the pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers as they seek to compete with Amazon.com amzn .

This is a 17.7% increase from a year ago. “Retailers know consumers are spreading out their holiday budgets to shop throughout the season”.

“Millennials are keeping retailers on their toes when it comes to Thanksgiving weekend shopping not just for their friends and family, but also themselves”, Prosper’s Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow said.

Tanya Jordan started shopping for herself Friday after buying for others Thursday night.

Walmart and Target said the website traffic on Thanksgiving for mobile stood at over 70 percent and 60 percent respectively.

A digital marketing research group has recorded online sales at a record high of USD3.34 billion during the Black Friday shopping spree in the United States. The NRF survey estimates that about 109 million people shopped online, compared with 99 million in stores. Many chains, including Kohl’s Corp., Gap and Barnes & Noble Inc., blamed the campaign season for hurting spending. After a contentious presidential election, he believes people are ready to buy.

“It may not be the exact lowest price but it was a really good deal”, she said.