US Black Friday sales rise 2.5% -Mastercard Spendingpulse

(Reuters) – Mastercard (NYSE:) Spendingpulse said on Saturday that U.S. retail sales on Black Friday rose 2.5% year-over-year excluding automotive sales, not adjusted for inflation.

In September, Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, said it anticipated U.S. retail sales, excluding automotive, to grow 3.7% during the holiday season, running from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24.

Black Friday refers to the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when retail sales are traditionally strong.

E-commerce sales on Friday increased by 8.5% year-over-year as consumers shopped for deals online, while in-store sales increased by 1.1%, MasterCard Spendingpulse said.

U.S. shoppers spent $9.8 billion online during Black Friday this year, according to data from Adobe (NASDAQ:) Analytics, which was in line with expectations of the data and insights arm of software firm Adobe.