The Biggest Cyber Monday Yet, What the Numbers Mean

It seems the turkeys may have been out to sabotage holiday shopping this year. Thanksgiving fell a full six days later than it did last year, on November 28th. This meant that the mayhem of Black Friday heralded the coming of holiday shopping just two days before December 1st. Starting nearly a week behind schedule left online retailers scrambling to play catch up and secure their quarterly goals. It looks like they actually pulled it off.

 

Cyber Monday, a day dedicated to online shopping started in 2005 by a group of retailers, is always the first Monday after Thanksgiving. This year, it looked like the perfect opportunity to kick off the shorter holiday shopping season on the right foot. Online retailers dedicated more time and energy this year to driving e-commerce sales, focusing more than ever on m-commerce. And their work paid off:

Total sales rose 15.7% to close at 2.29 billion total sales for the quarter. This marks a huge record for online sales, but what’s perhaps more impressive is the rising trend of m-commerce. With smartphones and tablets more popular than ever, sales on these mobile devices accounted for nearly 20% of the total sales this Cyber Monday -a figure already up an astounding 55% from last year. This is a growing trend that shows no sign of slowing. It’s clear that developing a streamlined mobile sales platform will soon be necessary for every online retailer.

The other important takeaway from this infographic is the driving role social media has continued to play in online sales. Social media alone accounted for 148 million in sales in the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. It’s clear that social media as a tool for advertising is here to stay.

What’s the takeaway? E-commerce and m-commerce representing an ever-growing piece of the American economic landscape. Ensuring you can capture your digital marketplace will become increasingly essential as we hurtle into the future, and the Cyber Mondays to come.

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