IBM: Online sales up 14.5% over Thanksgiving weekend

New York -- Overall online sales from Thanksgiving through Sunday were up 14.5% in 2013 over the same period last year, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Mobile traffic accounted for 40.9% of all online traffic, up more than 35% percent compared to the same period last year. Mobile sales remained strong, reaching 23.2% of all online sales, up 43.7% year-over-year.



In other findings:

• Smartphones drove 25% of all online traffic compared to tablets at 15.2%, making it the browsing device of choice. When it comes to making the sale, tablets drove 15.7% of all online sales, more than double that of smartphones, which accounted for 7.4%.

• Tablet users averaged $127.73 per order, versus smartphone users, who averaged $111.43 per order.

• Shoppers referred from Facebook averaged $72.04 per order, versus Pinterest referrals, which drove $95.20 per order. However, Facebook referrals converted sales more than three times the rate of Pinterest referrals, perhaps indicating stronger confidence in network recommendations.