eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Mobile traffic accounted for 57.1 percent of all online traffic on Christmas Day, an increase of 18.6 percent year over year, while online sales were up 8.3 percent over Christmas Day 2013, as consumers, retailers and marketers dove into the holiday shopping season, according to an IBM report.
The average online order value was $100.33, up 6.2 percent over 2013, and shoppers also purchased an average of 3.5 items per order, which was down 1.4 percent.
The report also found that mobile sales accounted for 34.8 percent of all online sales on Christmas Day, an increase of 20.4 percent year over year.
Even as mobile shopping continues to grow, many consumers chose a more traditional online experience, with desktop PC traffic representing 42.6 percent of all online traffic and 65.2 percent of all online sales.
In addition, consumers spent more money on their desktops, with an average order value of $107.72, compared with their mobile devices at $88.70, a difference of 21.4 percent.
Breaking down shopping by operating system, IBM found Apple’s iOS once again led the way in mobile shopping this holiday season, outpacing Android across three key metrics, including average order value—iOS users averaged $97.28 per order, compared with $67.40 for Android users, a difference of 44.3 percent.
Apple also bested Android in online traffic, with iOS traffic accounting for 39.1 percent of total online traffic, more than double that of Android, which drove 17.7 percent of all online traffic, and it also beat Android in online sales.
Apple iOS sales accounted for 27 percent of total online sales, nearly four times that of Android, which drove 7.6 percent of all online sales, the report found.
In the world of social media, Facebook referrals drove an average of $89.80 per order, while Pinterest referrals averaged $99.86 per order, though the report noted these were only two out of many social media sites covered in the analysis.
In the device category, smartphones drove 40.6 percent of total online traffic, more than two and a half times that of tablets, which accounted for 15.9 percent of all online traffic.
However, the report indicated tablets are winning the shopping war, with tablet sales accounting for 18.4 percent of online sales, compared with smartphones, which accounted for 16.3 percent of total online sales, a difference of 12.4 percent.
While consumers are clearly embracing mobile technology when it comes to shopping habits, more than half (54 percent) of consumers say retailers only “meet expectations” or “inconsistently meet expectations” when asked about brands’ use of technology throughout the shopping experience, according to a recent study commissioned by Mobiquity.
The study found that throughout a shopping journey, from discovery to payment to loyalty, there are multiple ways to provide a better, easier shopping experience that have very little to do with security.
“A few examples we’ve recently talked with clients about include leveraging beacons to help provide information about a product, or integrating a kiosk with a planogram and lighting to help people find products faster,” Eric Karofsky, director of vertical practice lead for Mobiquity, told eWEEK. “Even better, brands need to realize that mobile isn’t just about the consumer experience—providing employees with training material via their mobile device can create much better interactions and provide new value to the in-store experience.”
Karofsky noted, however, that when it comes to payment, a swift, secure experience with loyalty embedded is a mandatory.
“Ultimately payment and in-store innovation will be tied together, but the industry isn’t there just yet,” he said.