The US shoppers once again took advantage of early promotions this holiday season, driving a 17.4 percent increase in online sales Thanksgiving Day. This increase set the stage for 20.7 percent growth on Black Friday. The biggest surge came from mobile consumers, with sales reaching 16.3 percent, led by the iPad, according to International Business Machines Corp. (IBM: Quote).
As part of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative, the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark reported the following trends as of 12:00 am PST:
Consumer Spending Increases: Online sales on Thanksgiving grew by 17.4 percent followed by Black Friday where sales increased 20.7 percent over last year.
Mobile purchases soared with 24 percent of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 14.3 percent in 2011. Mobile sales exceeded 16 percent, up from 9.8 percent in 2011.
The iPad generated more traffic than any other tablet or smartphone, reaching nearly 10 percent of online shopping. This was followed by iPhone at 8.7 percent and Android 5.5 percent. The iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3 percent followed by the Barnes and Noble Nook at 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle at 2.4 percent and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8 percent.
The reports noted that consumers shopped in store, online and on mobile devices simultaneously to get the best bargains. Overall 58 percent of consumers used smartphones compared to 41 percent who used tablets to surf for bargains on Black Friday.
While consumers spent more overall, they shopped with greater frequency to take advantage of retailer deals and free shipping. This led to a drop in average order value by 4.7 percent to $181.22. In addition, the average number of items per order decreased 12 percent to 5.6.
Shoppers referred from Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube generated 0.34 percent of all online sales on Black Friday, a decrease of more than 35 percent from 2011.
Holiday sales growth was led by several industries which include: Department stores, Health and Beauty sales, Home goods, Apparel sales.
Department stores continued to offer compelling deals and promotions that drove sales to grow by 16.8 percent over Black Friday 2011.Health and Beauty sales increased 11 percent year over year with consumers once again choosing to pamper themselves this holiday. Home goods maintained its momentum this year, reporting a 28.2 percent increase in sales from Black Friday 2011. Apparel sales were also strong this holiday with Black Friday numbers showing an increase of 17.5 percent over 2011.
by RTT Staff Writer
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