With retailers shifting strategies to digital, holiday shoppers are continuing to blur the lines between online and offline shopping. IBM reported strong online and mobile sales over the five-day holiday shopping period of Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, also dubbed “Cyber Week.”
On Thanksgiving Day, online sales were up 14.3% year-over-year, and mobile sales accounted for 32.3% of all online sales, an increase of 25.4% over 2013. For the first time, online traffic from mobile devices was stronger than traditional PCs on Thanksgiving Day, accounting for 52.1% of all online traffic.
Online sales on Black Friday increased 9.5% year-over-year with mobile devices accounting for one-in-four of all online purchases. However, the average order value was down nearly 4.5% compared to the previous year.
Cyber Monday remained the busiest day for online shopping over the five-day period. Online sales grew by 8.5% over 2013, and mobile accounted for 22% of those sales, an increase of 27.6% year-over-year.
The overall 2014 holiday shopping trends represent people shopping differently compared to last year. With mobile emerging as a game changer for this crucial five-day shopping period, shoppers skipped the stores and waited for the best online deals.
With more mobile browsing and buying, we can predict to see a record holiday shopping season from mobile devices.