February online sales increased by one-fifth in run up to Valentine’s Day
IBM today released new data from its Digital Analytics Benchmark to capture online shopping trends during the week leading up to Valentine’s Day 2014 (7-13 February).
iOS vs. Android established over Christmas and the new year were confirmed as overall sales rose by 21 percent during the week before Valentine’s Day, compared to the same period in 2013, and half of all traffic came from mobile devices.
- Mobile Traffic and Sales: Mobile traffic accounted for 50 percent of all online traffic, up 41 percent compared to the same period last year. Mobile sales also remained strong at 39 percent of all online sales, up 54 percent over 2013.
- Smartphones Browse, Tablets Buy: Smartphones drove 27 percent of all online traffic compared to tablets at 23 percent, making it the browsing device of choice. When it comes to making the sale, tablets drove 22 percent of all online sales, higher than smartphones, which accounted for 16 percent. Tablet users also averaged £80.36 per order, vs. smartphone users, who averaged £68.20 per order.
- iOS vs. Android: As a percentage of total online sales, iOS was almost three times higher than Android, driving 29 percent vs. 10 percent for Android. On average, iOS users spent £75.35 per order vs. Android users who spent £72.64 per order. iOS also led as a component of overall online traffic with 34.5 percent, more than twice that of Android users at 14.5 percent.
- The Social Influence – Facebook vs. Pinterest: Shoppers referred from Facebook averaged £56.24 per order, versus Pinterest referrals, which drove £57.70 per order. However, Facebook referrals converted sales at twice the rate of Pinterest referrals, perhaps indicating stronger confidence in network recommendations.
Today’s news is based on findings from the cloud-based IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, part of the cloud-based IBM Digital Analytics solution, which tracks millions of e-commerce transactions, analysing terabytes of raw data from more than 200 participating UK retail web sites. Benchmark is the only real-time, self-service solution that delivers aggregated and anonymous competitive data for key performance indicators, showing how a site performs compared to its industry vertical peers and competitors.
For further information and US and Australian data, please visit: ibm.com/benchmark