Cyber Monday could be largest online shopping day in U.S. history

Online sales soared to record highs this Thanksgiving weekend, as more Americans used their smartphones and tablets to shop from home.

More than half the weekend's online purchases were placed on mobile devices, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which measures online transactions by the 100 largest U.S. web retailers.

Visits to physical stores, meanwhile, fell as many retailers offered the same deals online as they did in-store.

As of 10 a.m. on Monday, Americans had spent nearly $14 billion online since Thanksgiving Day, when many companies started their Black Friday sales. More than half those purchases came from mobile devices, Adobe reported.

The company added that Cyber Monday was expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history. As of 10 a.m., retailers had racked up $840 million in online sales, a 17 percent increase from last year.

'The holiday shopping weekend was extraordinary for online retailers,” Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, an analyst for market research firm Forrester, said in an email. 'Consumer confidence is high and retailers have been aggressive with broad sitewide or category-wide discounts, which have also helped encourage shoppers to open their wallets.”

Many brick-and-mortar retailers highlighted their internet sales. Department store chain Kohl's said its website had a 'record-breaking” Thanksgiving, with nearly 16 million online visits that day, while rival J.C. Penney said online traffic had increased 'double digits” the week of Thanksgiving, as consumers used mobile devices to buy diamond jewelry, furniture and refrigerators.