Mastercard Spendingpulse said on Saturday that U.S. retail sales on Black Friday rose 2.5% year-over-year excluding automotive sales, not adjusted for inflation.

In September, Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, said it anticipated U.S. retail sales, excluding automotive, to grow 3.7% during the holiday season, running from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24.

Black Friday refers to the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when retail sales are traditionally strong.

E-commerce sales on Friday increased by 8.5% year-over-year as consumers shopped for deals online, while in-store sales increased by 1.1%, MasterCard Spendingpulse said.

U.S. shoppers spent $9.8 billion online during Black Friday this year, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which was in line with expectations of the data and insights arm of software firm Adobe.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)