Mobile devices spearheaded digital traffic over the recent five-day holiday shopping period.
According to CRM firm Salesforce, mobile phones accounted for 66% of all online traffic and 49% of orders placed over Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday (22-26 November 2018). The data was gleaned from the combined insights on the activities of hundreds of millions of global shoppers across more than 30 countries.
More buyers than ever started their shopping on a phone, with mobile traffic hovering around 70% for the majority of the week. Mobile order share was the highest on Thanksgiving Day at 54%, compared to 49% on Black Friday and 45% on Cyber Monday.
While Cyber Monday saw an increase in mobile activity from 2017, it recorded the lowest rate of mobile traffic at 62% for the period as consumers went back to work and bought from computers instead.
Social media sites Facebook and Instagram exerted a growing influence on shopping, accounting for 94% of social traffic from both mobile and desktop to retail sites, up from 92% in 2017.
Commenting on this year’s spending trends, Salesforce VP Industry Strategy for Retail said: “Consumers went online early, went mobile and went social this Cyber Week, driving healthy digital growth for retailers. Shoppers responded to retailer innovation in mobile, payments and social that are enabling seamless and personalised consumer experiences.”
