Some call their mobile device their “remote control of life.” But the results of 2013′s “Black Friday” and Thanksgiving-day shopping frenzy make me think a big chunk of U.S. shoppers think of their mobile devices as the shopper’s little helper.
Nearly one-quarter of online purchases tracked by Adobe’s Digital Index were made from a mobile device during this year’s Black Friday/Thanksgiving Day shopping period. Not surprisingly, tablets accounted for 77% of those transactions. Compared to 2012′s total, mobile online purchases during Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday shopping periods, spiked 118%. No surprise that tablets accounted for 77% of those transactions (with the iPad accounting for a majority of tablet purchases). But iOS- and Android-based smartphones did generate more than $100 million in sales during this year’s Thanksgiving Day/Black Friday period .
One data point I thought particularly interesting, particularly given my colleague Jake Sorofman’s research on the topic of “showrooming” (Gartner log-in required) was that brick-n-click retailers fared better than online-only competitors. I’m not implying that “showrooming” isn’t a threat, at some level, but that embracing consumer usage of smartphones in the shopping experience does pay off.
But the returns from this year’s biggest shopping period (in the U.S. anyhow) should eliminate any doubts about the power and permanence of mobile in the modern shopping experience.