Cyber Monday Closes Out 5-Day Online Shopping Spree

While traffic numbers were up and mobile traffic numbers were way up, sales were somewhat lower. Cyber Monday’s online sales rose 8.5% year-over-year, but the average ticket value fell 3.5% to $124.21. The average ticket on Thanksgiving day dropped 1.8% year-over-year to $125.25, and the average ticket on Black Friday fell 4.4% to $129.37. The data were collected and reported by the Digital Analytics Benchmark group at International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM).

More online traffic, more online shoppers, more online revenue, but average revenue per order fell. The average Cyber Monday order on a department store fell 9.7% compared with last year, and the average ticket for an order of health and beauty goods dropped 3.8%. The average ticket for apparel sales also fell 2.1%, while the average ticket on home goods rose 10.9%.

Cyber Monday online sales were 30.5% higher than Black Friday online sales, but Black Friday shoppers spent an average of $129.37 per order, compared with Cyber Monday shoppers who spent $124.11 per order.

And Cyber Monday saw less traffic and sales revenue from mobile devices: sales were down 21.2% and traffic was down 17%. Desktop PCs accounted for 58.6% of all online traffic and 78% of all online sales on Cyber Monday, and the average order value was $128.24, compared with $110.72 for orders placed from mobile devices.

For all intents and purposes, Black Friday was transformed into Black November this year, with promotional pricing kicking in for some retailers right after Halloween. The obvious effect is to dilute the impact of Black Friday on a retailer’s sales. The good news is that no one gets trampled in those door-buster promotions.

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