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Cyber Monday, Black Friday spending: State of the consumer

Cyber Monday online spending could surpass $12 billion, the biggest US e-commerce shopping day ever, according to Adobe (ADBE). Meanwhile, holiday shoppers spent a total of $10.3 billion over Cyber Weekend, according to Adobe Analytics. Yahoo Finance spoke to experts to break down the state of the consumer with regard to the retail industry, entertainment, and everything investors need to know. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma discussed some of the record numbers this holiday season and what consumers need to watch with regard to sales. DiPalma said, "Really this period of 32 days does provide a longer timeline for shoppers to get their shopping done, and once again, they're waiting for the right price." Adobe VP of Growth & Insights Patrick Brown broke down the widespread discounts this holiday season and the increased usage of buy now, pay later flexibility services. Brown explained, "People are seeing bigger discounts, they're leveraging credit in different ways to defer payments to be able to take advantage of some of those good deals that they are seeing." SAP Emarsys Global Product Marketing Head Kelsey Jones notes that "retailers have been starting their campaigns earlier than ever this year," which is "really creating a bigger opportunity for retailers." Jones said, "It gives them an opportunity to not only find new customers now with the right discounts and the right offers, but then extend those to loyal customers as they go throughout the holiday season and into the new year." Box Office Guru Founder and Editor Gitesh Pandya broke down another lackluster holiday box office performance. Disney's (DIS) Wish was beat out by Ridley Scott's historic biopic Napoleon, released jointly through Columbia Pictures (SONY) and AppleTV+ (AAPL), as well as Lionsgate's (LGF-A) The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Pandya explained, "The good news is this is the first time that the top ten over Thanksgiving weekend broke $100 million since 2019." Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal expressed some optimism with the holiday box office numbers. Canal said, "Consistently we used to see this weekend pull in $250 million or more, and we haven't seen that since 2019 ... The (Hunger Games) prequel doing very well, securing $42 million, followed by Napoleon, $32.5 million, that was a surprise from Apple and Sony. Perhaps this is a good encouraging sign moving forward." Video highlights: 00:00:03 - Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Brooke DiPalma 00:00:27 - Adobe VP of Growth & Insights Patrick Brown 00:01:06 - SAP Emarsys Global Product Marketing Head Kelsey Jones 00:01:37 - Box Office Guru Founder and Editor Gitesh Pandya 00:01:52 - Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal