DISCUSSION
Mobile jumps out as retailers get a mixed start to the holiday season
Written by Tom Ryan
Thirty-nine percent of all online sales came from smartphones on Black Friday, a 21 percent increase year-over-year, according to Adobe Analytics. At the same time, 61 percent of online traffic on the day came from smartphones, up 15.8 percent.
Overall online sales on Black Friday jumped 19.4 percent with mobile’s help, according to Adobe’s findings. Thanksgiving day’s online spending grew 14.5 percent with 45 percent coming from mobile. Adobe also sees smartphone use boosting buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) orders, with those transactions up 43.2 percent on Black Friday.
“With Christmas now rapidly approaching, consumers increasingly jumped on their phones rather than standing in line,” said Taylor Schreiner, principal analyst & head of Adobe Digital Insights, in a statement. Adobe Analytics tracks sales in real-time for 80 of the top 100 U.S. retailers.
Bigger screens, more intuitive apps and mobile websites are believed to be helping smartphone users browse and pay.
Salesforce concurred that holiday shoppers are continuing to move “closer to a ‘mobile only’ reality,” finding that 74 percent of traffic and 60 percent of digital orders were placed via a mobile device on Thanksgiving. Salesforce uses Commerce Cloud data and insights covering more than half a billion global shoppers.
NPD’s 2019 Holiday Purchase Intentions Survey that came out last week predicted that 25 percent of online shoppers planned to use a smartphone for holiday shopping, growing from 19 percent two years ago. Those using smartphones for shopping were found to be more likely than those who use other devices to order BOPIS.
Twenty-two percent of NPD’s respondents used an app to pay for holiday purchases in the store last year. Thirty-nine percent of those respondents planned to use apps more often this holiday season. “Mobile shopping continues to gain traction as phone screens expand and retailer apps become more adept at offering the quick transaction experience consumers are looking for, wherever they are,” said Stephen Baker, VP, industry advisor for NPD.
The overall holiday predictions that have arrived post-Black Friday have been mixed. First Data Insights found a 4.2 percent rise in brick-and-mortar sales on Black Friday, but both ShopperTrak and RetailNext reported in-store traffic declines.
- Black Friday sees record $7.4B in online sales, $2.9B spent using smartphones – TechCrunch
- Growth in Mobile Holiday Shopping Benefits Stores, Reports NPD – The NPD Group
- Over a third of online Black Friday purchases came from phones – Engadget
- Shoppers ring up record Thanksgiving sales online. Black Friday’s tally to exceed $7 billion, Adobe says – CNBC
- Black Friday Brick-and-Mortar Sales Up 4.2% According to SpendTrend Data – First Data/Business Wire
- SpendTrend Holiday Snapshot – First Data
- Robust Black Friday Kicks-Off Holiday Shopping Season – ICSC/Business Wire
- Sensormatic Solutions Releases Black Friday Results from ShopperTrak Traffic Data Analytics – Sensormatic Solutions/Business Wire
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