IBM: Online Valentine’s Day shopping rises

Armonk, N.Y. - Consumers headed online for their Valentine’s Day shopping this year. According to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, during Valentine’s week (Feb. 7 – 13) online shopping rose 10.2% from the same period in 2014.



In addition to overall sales, consumers ramped up their shopping efforts the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. Growth was seen in key verticals including:



Jewelry: Total online sales increased the week of Valentine’s Day by 77.3% compared to the average of the previous four weeks (Jan 10 – Feb 6).



Department stores: Total online sales increased the week of Valentine’s Day by 12.6% compared to the average of the previous four weeks (Jan 10 – Feb 6).



Apparel: Total online sales increased the week of Valentine’s Day by 5.1% compared to the average of the previous four weeks (Jan 10 – Feb 6).



When comparing online sales in these key industries over the week of Valentines' Day (Feb 7 - 13) compared to the same period in 2014 IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark found the following:



Jewelry: Total online sales grew 5.1% from 2014, with mobile sales growing 53.2% year-from-year.



Department stores: Total online sales grew 17% from 2014, with mobile sales growing 19.9% year-from-year.



Apparel: Total online sales grew 18.4% from 2014, with mobile sales growing 4.4% year-from-year.



In addition to industries IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark also identified key drivers behind this year's Valentine’s Day shopping rush (Feb 7 - 13). Key findings for U.S. retail include the following:



Mobile traffic and sales: Mobile traffic accounted for 46.5% of all online traffic, up 26.5% compared to the same period last year. Mobile sales also remained strong at 23.2% of all online sales, up 35.3% from 2014.



Smartphones browse, tablets buy: Smartphones drove 33.7% of all online traffic compared to tablets at 12.4%, making it the browsing device of choice. Tablets drove 12.4% of all online sales while smartphones accounted for 10.7%. Tablet users also averaged $98.56 per order, compared to smartphone users, who averaged $92.37 per order.