With the holiday shopping season in full swing, mobile devices continue to see robust growth in being utilized for shopping and purchases.
Analysis from a number of different companies showed double-digit year-over-year increases in mobile traffic over the period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday – but, as a number of experts noted, those single-day events are generally seeing their impact muted as merchants give early access online and sales are being spread out even before Thanksgiving.
IBM Watson reported shoppers relied almost as much on their mobile devices for shopping as desktop computers. Mobile traffic accounted for 47.9% of all online traffic, up 16.3% over 2014. IBM Watson also found that 27.6% of all online sales were generated by mobile devices, a boost of nearly 25.7% over last year. Smartphone shoppers spent $102.02 per order. With consumers returning to work, desktop claimed the highest average order value of $128.00, followed closely by tablets at $124.14. However, smartphones were the mobile holiday shopping devices of choice, accounting for more than 36% of all online traffic – tablets accounted for just 11.1%. Smartphones also drove more sales: 15.2% of online sales vs. 12.4% of sales coming from tablets. IBM Watson noted that sales via smartphone were up almost 70% compared to last year.
“Smartphone shopping is here to stay,” IBM concluded.
In looking at mobile apps, the picture is slightly different and even more robust, according to Andrew Levy, co-founder and CSO of mobile app intelligence company Crittercism. Crittercism examined data points from the loading of shopping and lifestyle apps and concluded mobile usage increased even more dramatically than IBM Watson’s figures: 57%. The company reported its data “corresponds with ComScore’s prediction that mobile spending on Black Friday 2015 [would] increase by 47%. IBM Watson’s report underestimates the impact.”
Crittercism also found Apple iOS shopping and lifestyle “apploads” doubled this year from the day before Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, jumping from 4 million to 8 million. Levy said rather than simply using mobile Web browsing, the shift to shopping and purchases via apps reflects a change from e-commerce to m-commerce and to the increased buying power of mobile-focused millenials – and retailers are missing engagement opportunities if they aren’t making some offers exclusive to their mobile apps.
The holiday shopping season is also evening out, with fewer peaks and valleys in traffic.
“While mobile shopping in 2014 saw peaks and valleys during the shopping holidays, 2015 is shaping up to be more of a shopping season, with mobile shopping consistently high,” Crittercism reported.
Dupré also said the impact of any single-day sales are being diluted as the holiday shopping season (and the accompanying sales) turn from a sprint into a marathon.
“If you look at what retailers did prior to Thanksgiving, they offered a lot of ‘sneak peeks’ as to what they were going to offer, and a lot of early engagement,” Dupré said. “I think what it clearly shows is that this isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. It’s taking what was a one-day, very pointed marketing campaign around Black Friday and having to evolve to a retail strategy and engagement strategy.”
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