IBM: Consumers mobilize for back-to-school

Armonk, N.Y. – Consumers are mobilizing for back-to-school shopping in a very literal way.



Mobile sales were up nearly 42% in August, reaching 25.3% of all online sales, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data.



During this time, consumers also used their mobile devices to browse deals, with traffic accounting for 49.4% of all online traffic, up more than 19% compared to the same period year.



Smartphones drove 36.9% of all online traffic, compared to tablets at 12.5%. When it comes to purchases, for the first time smartphones also came out on top, driving 12.8% of all online sales compared to tablets at 12.5%.



In addition, for the first time, traffic from mobile devices (49.4%) nearly eclipsed that of the desktop, which reached 50.3%. In August 2014, desktop traffic far exceeded mobile devices, by 58.2% to 41.5%.



Tablet users averaged $116.97 per order compared to smartphone users, who averaged $105.54 per order. Desktop claimed the highest figure with average order values of $134.25.



As a percentage of total online sales, iOS was more than four times higher than Android, driving 19.1% compared to 6.1% for Android. On average, iOS users spent $116.49 per order compared to $96.11 for Android users. iOS also led as a component of overall traffic with 33.6% compared to 15.5% for Android.



Supporting these overall trends, the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark also reported real-time trends across three of the hottest retail categories for back-to-school purchases. August total department store online sales grew by 13.7% from the same period the previous year, with mobile sales reaching more than 30%.



August total online home goods sales grew by more than 12.6% from the same period the previous year, with mobile sales reaching 22.5%. And in apparel, August total online sales grew by more than 15% from the same period the previous year, with mobile sales contributing 25.3%.