On today’s ExchangeWire digest: $9.8bn Black Friday online spend record; Brands wasting $600m in holiday season ad spend… 

$9.8bn Black Friday online spend record 

Black Friday online buying hit a new record in the US, with total online spend coming to a record USD $9.8bn (£7.7bn). Smartphones represented 54% of all online sales. Sales increased by 7.5% from 2022, according to Adobe Analytics, bypassing their own predictions for the day. Adobe says it bases its calculations on over 1 trillion visits to US retail sites, the movement of around 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. Globally, total online spending came to USD $70.9bn (£56bn). 

Brands wasting $600m in holiday season ad spend 

According to an analysis by CreativeX, brands are wasting over USD $600m (£475m) worldwide on ads that are not digitally suitable during the holiday season. The analysis assessed over 3.9 million ads from 2021 to 2022, from over 400 brands across 10 industries including retail, food and beverage, and consumer packaged goods. 

School children using AI to create indecent images of classmates 

Online child safety experts have warned that school children are using AI image generators to create indecent content of other children. Urgent action has been called for by the UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC) to tackle the risks associated with such content, which legally constitutes as child sexual abuse material. UKSIC’s director, Emma Hardy, reported that the images created were photorealistic and comparable to professional photos. 

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Fact of the day 

Nearly a third (29%) of people who have shopped on Black Friday in the past have regretted their purchases, meanwhile 88% of people who have previously made purchases during the sales have overspent by an average of £511.90 more than budgeted.  

Source: Starling Bank