Cyber Monday spending hits all-time high

Cyber Monday 2015 will be a day for the retail record books, at least until next holiday season.

According to data from Adobe, a record $2.98 billion was spent online during Cyber Monday (Nov. 30), a 12% increase from the prior year and making it the largest online sales day in history. The average order value was $133, slightly lower than Black Friday ($137) and Thanksgiving Day ($162), indicating that shoppers were buying less expensive items.

Smartphones and tablets continued to drive sales on Cyber Monday. Mobile accounted for 49% of shopping visits (38% smartphones, 11% tablets), resulting in 28% of online sales (17% smartphones, 11% tablets).

In total, Adobe attributed $514 million in sales to mobile, including $313 million from smartphones ($205 million iPhones, $107 million Android) and $201 million from tablets ($170 million iPad, $28 million Android).

Adobe analysis of social buzz shows Cyber Monday had the most positive social sentiment of all the Cyber Week shopping days, with 56% relating to joy or admiration, compared to 40% for Black Friday. eBay was the most mentioned retailer since Thanksgiving, with Amazon a close second. Target led Walmart while Gap was ahead of H&M.

Analysis from the IBM Watson business intelligence platform shows that the top five items consumers sought to buy on Cyber Monday were Samsung TVs, Apple Watch, Sony TVs, Beats by Dre, and LG TVs.

Data from other sources also reveals some interesting tidbits about Cyber Monday consumers and their behaviors and expectations. According to Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, 38% of Cyber Monday shoppers belonged to a shipping club (such as Amazon Prime), up from 34% the prior year.

This provided a large potential strategic advantage to shipping club provider such as Amazon, as 77% of shipping club members reported heavier shopping at the retailer for which they are a member compared to 60% the previous year. Forty-six percent of Cyber Monday shoppers said they expect it to be their heaviest online shopping day of the year, up from 39% in 2014.

As far as Cyber Monday consumer outreach went, data from predictive marketing platform provider Custora indicates the number one driver of Cyber Monday sales was good old-fashioned email, accounting for about 22% of all sales. Despite social buzz, social media only drove 1.5% of sales.

Whatever consumers were buying on Cyber Monday and however they heard about it, clearly they were willing to buy and more inclined than ever to buy using a mobile device. With fewer than 50% of consumers saying Cyber Monday will be their biggest online shopping day this holiday season, retailers have a right to have hearts full of joy today.