IBM Reports Record Online Shopping for Thanksgiving and Black Friday

ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) reported a 19.7 percent increase in Thanksgiving Day online sales as holiday shoppers once again went online for the best deals.  This momentum set the stage for a record Black Friday with online sales growing 18.9 percent over the same period last year.  This data is the result of cloud-based analytics from IBM. 

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The biggest surge came from mobile sales which reached 25.8 percent of total online sales for Thanksgiving, and 21.8 percent for Black Friday, as consumers went from the dinner table to their tablets to lock in the best offers.  In addition, IBM reported that New York City consumers led the way in Black Friday online sales followed by Atlanta and Los Angeles. 

Delivered by the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, this year's holiday report tracked millions of transactions and terabytes of data from approximately 800 U.S. retail websites.  By leveraging cloud-based analytics, IBM is uniquely positioned to give retailers and marketers unmatched insight into real-time consumer shopping trends.

The company released the following trends as of 12:00 a.m. PST: 

• Online Sales Set New Record:  Thanksgiving Day online sales grew 19.7 percent year-over-year followed by Black Friday, with sales increasing 19 percent over 2012. Average order value for Black Friday was $135.27, up 2.2 percent year-over-year.

• Top Five Cities for Online Shopping: New York City took the top spot for online sales on Black Friday.  Rounding out the top five were Atlanta, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.    

• Mobile Shopping Soars:  Mobile traffic grew to 39.7 percent of all online traffic, an increase of 34 percent over Black Friday 2012.  Mobile sales were also strong, reaching 21.8 percent of total online sales, an increase of nearly 43 percent year-over-year. 

• Smartphones Browse, Tablets Buy:  Smartphones drove 24.9 percent of all online traffic on Black Friday compared to tablets at 14.2 percent, making it the browsing device of choice.  Tablets drove 14.4 percent of all online sales, double that of smartphones, which accounted for 7.2 percent of all online sales.  On average, tablet users spent $132.75 per order compared to smartphone users who spent $115.63, a difference of 15 percent.

• iOS vs. Android:  On average, iOS users spent $127.92 per order on Black Friday compared to $105.20 per order for Android users.  iOS traffic reached 28.2 percent of all online traffic, compared to 11.4 percent for Android.  iOS sales reached 18.1 percent of all online sales, compared to 3.5 percent for Android. 

• Retailers "Push" Promotions to Mobile Shoppers:  On average, retailers sent 37 percent more push notifications – the alert messages and popup notifications from apps installed on your mobile device – during the two day period over Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday when compared to daily averages over the past two months. Average daily retail app installations also grew by 23 percent using the same comparison.  Retailers sent more notifications on Thanksgiving Day than Black Friday.

• The Social Influence – Facebook vs. Pinterest:  On average, holiday shoppers referred from Pinterest on Black Friday spent 77 percent more per order than shoppers referred from Facebook.  Facebook average order value was $52.30 versus Pinterest average order value which was $92.51.  However, Facebook referrals converted sales at nearly four times the rate of Pinterest.

"We're off to an incredibly fast start this holiday season as retailers and consumers meet at the intersection of cloud, mobile and social platforms to both offer and take advantage of the best deals," said Jay Henderson, Strategy Director, IBM Smarter Commerce.  "It's clear that marketers are using cloud analytics technologies like the IBM Benchmark to better understand and act on real-time shopping trends.  This year's winners will be those that can deliver seamless experiences to consumers wherever, whenever and however they choose to shop."

Supporting these overall trends, the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark also reported real-time trends across four of the hottest retail categories this holiday season: 

1. Department Stores:  Black Friday total online sales grew by 61.4 percent over 2012, with mobile percentage of sales growing by 46.4 percent.  Average order value was $146.84, an increase of 15 percent year-over-year.
2. Health and Beauty:  Black Friday total online sales grew by 28 percent over 2012, with mobile percentage of sales growing by 65 percent.  Average order value was $66.31, an increase of 3.2 percent year-over-year.
3. Home Goods:  Black Friday total online sales grew by 16.8 percent over 2012, with mobile percentage of sales growing by 24 percent.  Average order value was $207.80, an increase of 15 percent year-over-year.
4. Apparel:  Black Friday total online sales grew by 50.4 percent over 2012, with mobile percentage of sales growing by 43 percent.  Average order value was $123.31, an increase of 3.5 percent year-over-year.

To access full reports and real-time updates on holiday shopping trends, visit the new IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark Hub at www.ibm.com/benchmark.  For more information on how IBM's real-time analytics delivered through the cloud can improve end-to-end customer engagement, visit www.ibm.com/smartercommerce. 

To join the conversation, follow hashtag #smartercommerce on Twitter.

Additional benchmark videos, infographics and FAQs are available:

• IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark video, IBM Black Friday infographic and the full 2013 IBM Black Friday Benchmark report: www.ibm.com\benchmark
• Press FAQ

*Denotes Xtify-specific mobile app data not included in the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark report. Xtify is a leading provider of multi-channel mobile messaging solutions. The Xtify platform provides marketers and developers access to enterprise tools to manage complex database or automated event-driven campaigns.

Media Contact:
Amanda Carl
IBM Global Communications
[email protected]  
+1 570-236-4032

SOURCE IBM