Online spending by U.S. bargain hunters climbed to above $1 billion by Thanksgiving evening, according to Adobe Digital Index, surging almost 14% from a year ago and reflecting a broader trend away from brick-and-mortar shopping.<\/span><\/p>\n At the start of the first holiday shopping season since the election of Donald Trump as president on Nov. 8, U.S. consumers loosened their purse strings and spent $1.15 billion online between midnight and 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, according to Adobe.<\/span><\/p>\n Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, has started the holiday shopping season in the United States with retailers offering steep discounts and turning a profit. But its popularity has been on the wane given the emergence of online shopping and cheap deals through the year from retailers including e-commerce giant Amazon AMZN -0.55% .<\/span><\/p>\n U.S. stores are now opening on Thanksgiving to try and boost in-store sales, while retailers have been offering online deals weeks in advance to cope with lower demand and stiff pricing competition.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe saw one of our strongest days ever online,\u201d Brian Cornell, chief executive of discount retailer Target TGT 0.78% , told reporters on Thursday evening. He added that online sales grew by double digits, without giving further details.<\/span><\/p>\n The holiday season spanning November and December is crucial for retailers because it can account for as much as 40% of annual sales. Retailers try to attract shoppers with deep discounts, sometimes as much as 85%.<\/span><\/p>\n The National Retail Federation, which has been bullish with projections in the past, expects holiday sales to grow 3.6% this year to $655.8 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOnline discounts are earlier and a lot bigger than last year,\u201d said Tamara Gaffney, principal research analyst at Adobe Digital Index.<\/span><\/p>\n The Adobe figure is collected from 21 billion online visits to 4,500 U.S. retail sites since Nov. 1.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBlack Friday is no longer a one-day event; it has turned into a multi-week event,\u201d said Christopher Baldwin, chief executive officer at BJ\u2019s Wholesale Club BJ 0.00% , which operates club stores on the East Coast that compete with Wal-Mart Stores\u2019s Sam\u2019s Club.<\/span><\/p>\n Store traffic remained subdued across the country, according to spot checks made by Reuters reporters and industry officials.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cInitial reports show it\u2019s steady and not very busy at stores around the country,\u201d said Craig Johnson, president at retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners. The firm deployed 18 people nationwide to observe customer traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n Rain hurt shopping at stores in the Northeast, Johnson said, but some retailers like Best Buy BBY 0.77% and Wal-Mart WMT 1.01% saw improved customer traffic at stores across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n At a JC Penney JCP 1.03% store in Manhattan, Terry Bodiford, visiting from South Carolina, said he did not feel deals were better than he had found online over the past few weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n Macy\u2019s M 1.01% and Best Buy on Chicago\u2019s Magnificent Mile were packed, but employees said most of the customers were tourists.<\/span><\/p>\n Chicago\u2019s State Street, a normally bustling shopping area popular with locals, was desolate.<\/span><\/p>\n Shaun Smith, a 29-year-old restaurant manager, said he only came to the State Street store to take advantage of a deal for a $279 Westinghouse TV which is normally priced over $600<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI will buy most of what I need online,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Source:\u00a0http:\/\/fortune.com\/2016\/11\/25\/online-shopping-billion-thanksgiving-day\/<\/span><\/p>\n