In November 2025, ecommerce had grown year over year at more than double the rate of total retail sales, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which released data for the month in mid-January.
However, ecommerce sales had grown 0.36% in November 2025 compared to October that year. Meanwhile, total retail sales in November increased 0.61% compared to October.
Total U.S. retail sales in November reached $735.90 billion. That’s 3.3% year-over-year growth.
National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said that in November, consumers focused “on value and spending carefully during the holiday period.”
Ecommerce sales November 2025
In November, U.S. ecommerce sales reached $130.12 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That’s 7.2% year-over-year growth from $121.38 billion in November 2024.
That’s similar to findings from Adobe Analytics data. Adobe data indicated that from Nov. 1 through Dec. 1, U.S. consumers had spent $137.4 billion in ecommerce sales. However, Adobe’s data set includes Cyber Monday, which landed on Dec. 1 in 2025. That day, U.S. consumers spent $14.25 billion online, according to Adobe data.
As was the case in 2024, not all of the Cyber 5 fell in November. The Cyber 5 refers to the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. Even excluding Cyber Monday because it was in December, U.S. consumers ended November having spent $29.95 billion in ecommerce sales in four days, according to Adobe data.
Revised data from the Commerce Department indicates November 2024 ecommerce sales had declined year over year. In part, that’s because November 2024 included just three out five days of the Cyber 5, which ended Dec. 2 in 2024. In 2023, the full Cyber 5 had landed in November, lifting online sales for the month to $128.24 billion. That’s the largest November online sales total to date in the U.S., based on Commerce Department data.
Sales trends from November 2025
Data from Adobe Analytics indicated that from Nov. 1 through Dec. 1, U.S. consumers had spent $73.7 billion through their mobile devices. That accounted for a 7.2% year-over-year increase.
Meanwhile, they had spent $10.1 billion in buy now, pay later (BNPL) transactions. That’s 9.0% growth year over year for the payment method. Most of those transactions also occurred on mobile devices, according to Adobe — $8.3 billion.
Traffic from generative artificial intelligence (AI) sources had increased 758.0% year over year in November, Adobe said.
Top-selling toys, according to Adobe, included Labubu dolls, Lego sets, MrBeast Lab toys and Fisher-Price Little People. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17, Google Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S25 led in consumer electronics. For non-phone electronics, the Oura Ring and Kindle Colorsoft were also top-sellers.
The Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X were the leading sellers for gaming consoles. The video games that consumers bought most were Donkey Kong Bananza, Madden NFL 26, NBA 2K26 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
Ecommerce sales calculations
Digital Commerce 360 studies non-seasonally adjusted commerce department data and excludes spending in segments that don’t typically sell online. These segments include:
- Restaurants
- Bars
- Automobile dealers
- Gas stations
- Fuel dealers
U.S. ecommerce penetration reflects the share of dollars consumers could potentially spend online.
The Commerce Department defines ecommerce sales as the sales of goods and services where an order is placed by the buyer or price and terms of sales are negotiated over:
- Internet
- Extranet
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network
- Electronic mail
- Other online system
Payment may or may not be made online. The Commerce Department publishes estimates that it adjusts for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes.
Click here to read last month’s update on U.S. online retail sales.
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