The Numbers Are In: Mobile Ruled Black Friday

by Emily Rompola | Last Updated: Nov 29, 2017

If you’re like me, your Thanksgiving holiday was chock full of activities. From a Turkey Trot 5K to cooking and eating to shopping...you were not alone. In fact, whether you knew it or not at the time, this year’s long Thanksgiving weekend proved to be recording-breaking with a total $7.9 billion spent online between Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and an additional $6.59 billion spent on Cyber Monday. This may come as no surprise, as Black Friday deals have been popping up throughout the entire month of November, but the real story is found when looking at the influence mobile had on this year’s sales figures. Now that the virtual dust has settled, let’s dive into the numbers that came out of this year’s record-breaking Black Friday–I have a feeling you’ll see the importance of providing a seamless, mobile experience that customers demand in today’s eCommerce world. Mobile Is The New Black (Friday) During the long holiday weekend, 58.4 million consumers shopped exclusively online. This isn’t exactly surprising, as I think we can agree that most of us regularly do our shopping online, but here’s the shocker: 46 percent of all e-commerce traffic came from smartphones (that’s up 15 percent from last year). Breaking down smartphone usage over the holiday weekend leaves us with a few interesting figures to highlight:

There was a 30 percent increase in mobile page views on Thanksgiving Day
Mobile devices were used for 54 percent of visits and 37 percent of online revenue on Black Friday
Mobile Thanksgiving orders were up by more than 50 percent compared to last year on Amazon alone
On Cyber Monday, 81 million U.S. consumers shopped online, $6.6 billion was spent online, and mobile sales reached $2 billion for the first time in U.S. history
Apple iOS smartphones had an average order of $127 compared to an average order of $112 on an Android smartphone

So, the numbers show that mobile totally ruled this year’s Black Friday shopping. If the numbers aren’t enough, we’ve got plenty of industry leaders noticing and commenting on the trends, too. Mickey Mericle, Vice President of Marketing and Customer Insights at Adobe, has this to say about the influence of mobile on this year’s Thanksgiving weekend shopping:

“The big story this holiday season is in mobile shopping. Retailers know this is where the audience is now and are delivering better experiences. On both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the gap between mobile traffic and revenue is closing. Shoppers looking for discounts are getting better at using smartphones to quickly close the deal, and we are seeing better mobile conversion this season at over ten percent growth.”

Here’s Why Mobile Won Consumers want 24/7 access, effortless usability, and seamless payment options–all things that mobile shopping provides. When mobile shopping experiences are done right, they provide customers with a more convenient, efficient, and painless retail experience. But don’t be fooled, it’s not just the Amazons of the world who need to invest in mobile technology. According to Adobe Analytics, consumers had a 30 percent higher chance of clicking “buy” on a smartphone from a smaller retailer (AKA, any retailer with an annual revenue under $10 million) than from a larger retailer. From this past Thanksgiving weekend, one thing is clear–mobile shopping is here, and it’s here to stay. Take this historic shopping holiday as a wake-up call to the power of mobile. Brands who don’t provide their customers with convenient, highly-personalized mobile experiences will–at best–be ignored and–at worst–be left behind.

The Numbers Are In: Mobile Ruled Black Friday

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