While in-store sales on Black Friday may have been disappointing, according to IBM’s 2013 Holiday Benchmark Reports, online sales set a new record for Thanksgiving Day with sales increasing 19.7% over 2012. Black Friday online sales increased 19% over last year. Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6% increase over 2012. Mobile sales were particularly strong — 17% of total online sales, increasing 55.4% over last year. And Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday became the biggest five-day online sales period on record, increasing 16.5% over the 2012.
Social Shopping Was Big
According to the IBM reports, Facebook and Pinterest drove the most traffic this year. Traffic from Pinterest spent more on Black Friday, and traffic from Facebook spent more on Cyber Monday. Considering the demographics and the connectedness of both social networks, it’s not difficult to see how a post on either can fan out and spread among one’s friends.
Practical eCommerce has more analysis of the results:
One interesting finding is that shoppers like to browse merchandise on smartphones but when it’s time to check out they reach for tablets. According to IBM, sales generated on tablets contributed more than 14 percent of online sales on Black Friday, roughly twice the amount contributed by smartphones. Those who purchase via tablets are also bigger spenders — with average orders of $133, while the average order for smartphone purchasers was about $115. — Ecommerce Strong on Black Friday, Cyber Monday by Marcia Kaplan
