IBM: Cyber Monday online spending surges 33%

New York City -- Online sales on Cyber Monday were up 33% over 2010, with shopping peaks occurring at 2:05 p.m. EST, according to IBM’s fourth annual Cyber Monday Benchmark study. The average ticket increased 2.6% to $198.26, compared with $193.24 last year.



Among other key Cyber Monday Benchmark findings:

• Nearly 11% (10.8%) of people used a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 3.9% in 2010. Additionally, mobile sales grew dramatically, reaching 6.6% on Cyber Monday versus 2.3% in 2010.


• When comparing Cyber Monday 2011 to Black Friday 2011, online sales were up 29.3% on Monday versus Friday.


• On Cyber Monday mobile traffic averaged 10.8%, compared with 14.3% on Black Friday.


• Consumer sales on mobile devices reached 6.6% vs. 9.8% on Black Friday.


• Shoppers referred from social networks generated 0.56% of all online sales on Cyber Monday versus 0.53% on Black Friday. Similar to Black Friday, Facebook led the pack, accounting for 86% of all social media traffic.

"Cyber Monday was once again the big winner for the Thanksgiving holiday shopping season, with a record number of consumers focused on finding the best online deals," said John Squire, chief strategy officer, IBM Smarter Commerce. "Retailers that adopted a smarter approach to commerce, one that allowed them to swiftly adjust to the shifting shopping habits of their customers, whether in-store, online or via their mobile device, were able to fully benefit from this day and the entire holiday weekend.”