Mobile browsing is expected to drive nearly half of online traffic and almost 25% of online sales over the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, according to new figures released by IBM.
The company said that overall online sales are expected to increase 15% over those five major shopping days, with both Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving Day shopping expected to rise 15.8% and 15.6% respectively. In fact, IBM called mobile “the new Thanksgiving tradition” and said that for the first time ever, more than half of all online shopping on Thanksgiving Day — 53% — will come from a mobile device. That’s an increase of 23% year-over-year.
IBM predicts that mobile sales will rise nearly 10% from last year to account for 24.2% of all online sales — and the majority of those sales will come from Apple devices. iOS traffic is projected to be double that coming from Android devices, according to IBM, and quadruple sales compared to Android.
IBM analyzed billions of online and in-store transactions as the basis for its 7th annual IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark and IBM Quarterly Retail Forecast.
Other findings of the analytics report include:
–Big data analytics are increasing the effectiveness of holiday marketing. IBM predicts that click-through rates for emails sent during that five-day shopping period will be 10% higher than last year due to better personalization and relevance. IBM also expects that 35% of click-throughs will come from mobile devices.
–Consumers are expected to spend $123.28 on average per online order between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — down 2.9% compared to last year, but with an average number of items up 17% from 2013.
–Black Friday online sales are expected to be up 13%.
–Smartphones continue to be the driver of mobile browsing, while tablets drive purchases. IBM said that smartphones will account for 29% of all online traffic between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, compared to 15% from tablets — but tablets will account for twice as many purchases, due to the larger screen size.
“Without question, this will be a strong holiday shopping season, supported by the power of big data and analytics, which are helping brands better understand their consumers and make crucial decisions in real time,” said Jay Henderson, director of strategy for IBM ExperienceOne, in a statement.
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