Fourth Quarter Online Mobile Traffic Up 40 Percent Over Last Year
By Jack Loechner, MediaPost
According to the year-end online sales trends from the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, overall fourth quarter online sales were up 10.3% year-over-year, as mobile traffic soared, accounting for nearly 35% of all online traffic, up 40% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. Mobile sales also remained strong, reaching 16.6% of all online sales, up more than 46% over the same period last year.
More of the key drivers of online mobile sales include:
- Smartphones drove 21.3% of all online traffic, nearly double that of tablets at 12.8%, making it the browsing device of choice, but tablets drove 11.5% of all online sales, more than twice that of smartphones, which accounted for 5%
- Tablet users averaged $118.09 per order, versus smartphone users, who averaged $104.72 per order
- As a percentage of total online sales, iOS was almost five times higher than Android, driving 12.7% vs. 2.6% for Android. On average, iOS users spent $115.42 per order, nearly 40% higher than Android users, who spent $83.56 per order. iOS also led as a component of overall traffic with 22.1% vs. 10.6% for Android
- Shoppers referred from Facebook averaged $60.48 per order, versus Pinterest referrals, which drove $109.93 per order. However, Facebook referrals converted sales at more than three and a half times the rate of Pinterest, perhaps indicating stronger confidence innetwork recommendations
Supporting these overall trends, the study reported real-time trends across a number of retail subcategories throughout the fourth quarter:
- Online sales for Department Stores in the forth quarter grew by 62.8% over 2012, with mobile sales growing by 49.6% year over year
- Health and Beauty online sales grew by 14.7% over 2012, with mobile sales growing by 81.7% year over year
- Online Home Goods sales grew by 46.4% over 2012, with mobile sales growing by 38% year over year
- Online sales of Apparel grew by 10.2% over 2012, with mobile sales growing by 54.5% year over year
Source
"Fourth Quarter Online Mobile Traffic Up 40 Percent Over Last Year." Jack Loechner. MediaPost, 01/17/14.