Cyber Monday sales see 33% increase over last year

Mobile traffic and sales saw a nearly three-fold increase over last year

You know what’s cooler than $1 billion?  $1.3 billion.  Or something like that…

IBM Benchmark reported Tuesday morning that overall Cyber Monday sales were up a whopping 33% over last year.  And if you recall, last year was pretty momentous, raking in a record-breaking $1 billion and making Cyber Monday 2010 the heaviest online shopping day in history, as well as the first time online sales have surpassed $1 billion.  ComScore estimated that Cyber Monday sales would reach $1.2 billion. 

The sales were tracked via IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative, IBM's online retail benchmark study.

IBM tracked sales throughout the day yesterday, reporting at one point that sales were only up 15% as of 3 pm EST.  So it looks like online shopping picked up steam after hours.  Interestingly, however, the report notes that online shopping peaked at 11:05 am PST/2:05 pm EST.

The report also noted that average order rose to $198.26 this year, compared to $193.24 last year.  Not a huge difference, but better than a kick in the face.

While IBM Benchmark didn’t give an exact figure on how much online retailers made yesterday, it noted that sales were up 29% over Black Friday, which, according to comScore, drew in $816 million.

"Cyber Monday was once again the big winner for the Thanksgiving holiday shopping season, with a record number of consumers focused on finding the best online deals," said John Squire, Chief Strategy Officer of IBM Smarter Commerce, in a statement. "Retailers that adopted a smarter approach to commerce, one that allowed them to swiftly adjust to the shifting shopping habits of their customers, whether in-store, online or via their mobile device, were able to fully benefit from this day and the entire holiday weekend."

Additionally, mobile traffic up nearly three-fold this year, with 10.8% of consumers visiting a retailer’s website via a mobile device this year, versus just 3.9% in 2010.  Mobile sales were also up, with 6.6% of consumers making purchases via a mobile device this year compared to 2.3% last year.

In terms of mobile sales, more purchases were made via the iPad than any other device, IBM noted.  In terms of traffic, the iPhone took the lead, accounting for 4.1% of visits to retailers’ websites, compared to 3.3% for the iPad and 3.2% for Android.

Interestingly (or not, when you think about the logistics of Cyber Monday), mobile sales were higher on Black Friday than Cyber Monday, with mobile accounting for 9.8% of consumer sales on Black Friday compared to 6.6% on Cyber Monday.  Mobile accounted for 14.3% of all traffic to retailers’ websites on Black Friday, compared to 10.8% on Cyber Monday.

In sum: another glorious Thanksgiving weekend. 

Image source: ipworldmag.com