The rise of Black Friday - the end of Cyber Monday?

Mobile and international sales pushed online sales to a record high this Black Friday, ahead of the Monday after Thanksgiving, known as Cyber Monday, which is usually thought of as the biggest online shopping day.

Online sales during Black Friday past the 2 billion dollar, or 1.27 billion pound mark for the first time in history – surpassing the average growth witnessed during Cyber Monday over the last few years, according to data from marketing and creative service firm, Adobe.

The Adobe Digital Index tracked more than 350 million visits to over 4,500 retail sites on Friday, bringing in total of 2.4 billion dollars or 1.52 billion pounds, which is a 24 percent increase from last year.

Although Adobe predicts that Cyber Monday sales today will come in at 2.6 billion dollars or 1.65 billion pounds, next year could see the tables turned, said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst for Adobe's Digital Index in an interview.

With more and more retailers across the globe offering online deals ahead of Black Friday, and both Thanksgiving Days and Black Friday reporting larger growth rates than Cyber Monday, it seems likely that the former may surpass the latter in online sales.

The firm also notes that the implementation of smart phones with larger screens have also made it easier for consumers to shop online. “Consumer use of larger screen smartphones helped drive significant increases in mobile online sales – enough to set records two days in a row,” said Gaffney.