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Mobile Moves Black Friday Sales Upward

Written by Tom Ryan

Consumers went mobile on Black Friday, using devices to research and buy items, according to the IBM Coremetrics Benchmark Report Black Friday 2011. Among the study's findings:

  • Mobile devices (including iPads and tablets as well as smartphone devices) accounted for 14.3 percent of all Black Friday online retail traffic, up from 5.6 percent in 2010. IBM saw this is an indication that consumers are increasingly using mobile devices as a research tool for in-store and online bargains;
  • The iPhone and iPad ranked one and two for consumers shopping on mobile devices. Android came in third;
  • Shoppers using the iPad led to more retail purchases more often per visit than other mobile devices, with conversion rates reaching 4.6 percent compared to 2.8 percent for overall mobile devices;
  • Mobile shoppers surpassed that of other online shoppers with a 41.3 percent bounce rate on mobile devices versus online shopping rates of 33.1 percent.

The survey also found that shoppers referred from social networks generated 0.53 percent of all online sales on Black Friday. Facebook led the pack, accounting for 75 percent of all traffic from social networks. With topics including out-of-stock concerns, waiting times and parking, and a spike in positive sentiment around Cyber-Monday sales, social networks also boasted a 110 percent increase in discussion volume over 2010.

Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation for the first time in its Black Friday Weekend survey conducted by BIGresearch asked how shoppers would use their smartphones and tablets over the weekend as well. More than one-quarter (25.7 percent) of Americans with tablet devices said they did or would purchase items with their devices, and 37.4 percent will or have researched products and compared prices with their tablets. Overall, more than half (57.1 percent) said they have or will use their tablet devices to shop for gifts this weekend.

The reports came as several local consumer news reports touted the capabilities of mobile apps that maximize Black Friday deal shopping and tablets were cited among this year's top holiday sellers.

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