Online, Mobile Commerce Big on "Black Friday"

The U.S online retail sector delivered double digit growth on Black Friday 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to analytics-based findings by IBM. The Coremetrics third annual Black Friday Benchmark Report indicates that online sales were up 15.9 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value up from $170.19 to $190.80 for an increase of 12.1 percent.

Consumers are also embracing mobile as a shopping tool. On Black Friday, 5.6 percent of people logged onto a retailer’s site using a mobile device, a jump of 26.7 percent compared to the prior Friday. That suggests users are using their mobiles inside stores, for example, perhaps for comparison shopping.

Jewelry retailers reported a 17.6 percent increase in sales.

But there also is some evidence that consumers know what they want, where to get it and are being very targeted in their efforts to find those items. People are viewing 18 percent fewer products on sites than they did last year, suggesting that they are shopping with a specific item in mind and quickly moving on.

Consumers appear increasingly savvy about their favorite brands’ social presence, and are turning to their networks on social sites for information about deals and inventory levels. While the percentage of visitors arriving from social network sites is fairly small relative to all online visitors—nearly one percent—it is gaining momentum, with Facebook dominating the space.

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