The frenzy of Cyber Monday brought some interesting statistics. To be sure, online shoppers set another record, buying 30 percent more online this year than in 2011, validation to retailers that online shopping will continue to grow.
Mobile, especially, saw skyrocketing statistics as people became more comfortable shopping from their Smartphones and tablets. IBM.Overall reports 70% more mobile users visited retail websites than last year and mobile sales increased 96% over 2011. Paypal reports a 190% increase in global mobile payment volume.
It’s interesting that while Cyber Monday shoppers bought more items this year, they seemed to spend less money per order. IBM reported a 14% increase in items per order, but a drop in average order dollar amounts of 6.6%. Since the number of browsing sessions is also up, it could be that shoppers that day were shopping with greater frequency to take advantage of online deals and free shipping.
Also of interest is the more complicated influence of social media on Cyber Monday sales. Data indicates social media was not a prime driver of online sales this year. However, its overall influence on the buying decision is less certain.
IBM reports a drop of 26 percent over 2011 in online sales referred by social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Yet, social media’s influence may be stronger than that.
The Business Insider reports several large companies used social media to raise awareness this year rather than to drive sales. Target, for instance, drew 1 million users in 4 days with a Facebook game that asked users to guess which item would go on sale for Black Friday.
As for paid campaigns, one of our clients at HRB saw just as much click-through traffic from its Cyber Monday Facebook campaign as it did from its Google AdWords campaign. So the usefulness of social media shouldn’t be discounted just yet.
Social media is equipped to build brand awareness, promote new products, influence referrals and drive purchasing decisions long before the click-through to the shopping cart. No matter what the metrics says, conversations around a brand are never a bad thing for business.