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The Almighty Buck Businesses Handhelds

Over 20% of Online Black Friday Sales Came From Mobile Devices 201

cagraham writes "According to IBM's latest Data Benchmark report, 21.8% of all online Black Friday sales were made from mobile devices. Mobile traffic, meanwhile, accounted for 39.7% of all Black Friday traffic. Interestingly, iOS users accounted for 18.1% of online sales, while Android users accounted for just 3.5%. The data come from IBM's real-time monitoring over 800 U.S. online retailers. The report also notes that tablets generated less traffic than smartphones, but accounted for almost twice the number of sales. Overall, online sales for Black Friday grew 18.9% year-over-year."
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Over 20% of Online Black Friday Sales Came From Mobile Devices

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  • by Impy the Impiuos Imp ( 442658 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @01:44PM (#45576425) Journal

    I would never buy Christmas gifts over smartphone surfing. I guess I'm just old school and like the hustle and bustle of leisurely picking through products and buying at my nice, large computer screen.

    • by Daetrin ( 576516 )
      I learned about a number of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales through my Android phone. And in each case i then went and looked it up again on my PC for review before deciding whether or not to make a purchase.
      • I only used the PC, as I only have a work supplied blackberry, and I decided not to buy anything. I suppose I need to order a couple of gifts this week though.

    • I actually purchased something for my girlfriend using my smart phone. Opened amazon app, did a search, found one with good reviews at a decent price that met the needed specs, and ordered it. It was actually easier on my phone because I got to do it while on a cigarette break from her family over thanksgiving. Bonus: I got it taken care of in like 5 minutes that was otherwise wasted at a family function.

      I now wait for the obligatory "Dur slashdotters dont have girlfriends" comment.
      • by Rosyna ( 80334 )

        I actually purchased something for my girlfriend using my smart phone. ...found one ...that met the needed specs...

        Ugh, a gift that needed to meet specs?!

  • by synapse7 ( 1075571 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @01:45PM (#45576433)
    Some of my android based tablets and phone are using browsers with a user agent that reports as an ipad, seems to help get an html5 website.
    • by 605dave ( 722736 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @01:55PM (#45576543) Homepage

      Yes, I'm sure that's a huge percentage of the traffic.

    • by vux984 ( 928602 )

      Some of my android based tablets and phone are using browsers with a user agent that reports as an ipad

      Can you clarify if that was something you set up yourself, or whether they are coming like that from the developer?

    • Scientists confirmed that when IOS and Android users purchased the same items, at the same store, the IOS users still accounted for 28% more revenue.

    • by fermion ( 181285 )
      This can be an issue. Back in the day we all set user agents to report as IE on MS Windows to trick websites into working. I don't know if something was baked into ISS that made it bork on non-MS web browsers, but it did create a situation where the number on user browsing on IE was inflated. Usually worked fine one the server was tricked. Now, of course, sites like /. have truly awful mobile versions and there is little way to get out of it.
    • by Wingsy ( 761354 )
      Man, you guys are just trying way too hard.
  • by michaelmalak ( 91262 ) <michael@michaelmalak.com> on Monday December 02, 2013 @01:47PM (#45576451) Homepage
    Makes me wonder how much longer the term "Cyber Monday" will be relevant if we're all continuously plugged into Amazon anyway and don't need to be at a desktop/laptop.
  • So you're saying (Score:4, Informative)

    by msobkow ( 48369 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @01:47PM (#45576455) Homepage Journal

    So you're saying iOS users are suckers with too much money to burn. :P

    • There's such a thing as too much?

    • by east coast ( 590680 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @02:04PM (#45576669)
      Given the response to this article so far? I'd say that this is proof that Slashdotters are willing to argue over what technology is better than to just accept that people use different technology and move on with their own lives.

      Slashdot thanks for taking the flamebait... that's their bread and butter.
      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by msobkow ( 48369 )

        *sigh* iOS devices are more expensive to begin with. iOS users obviously have more money to spend than brains. It has nothing to do with the quality of the device, and everything to do with being willing to be gouged.

        • by Scowler ( 667000 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @02:31PM (#45576975)
          iPhones aren't significantly different in price from top-end Android phones from Samsung, HTC, etc. I know the Nexus phones are always quoted as proof that iPhones are over-priced, but the Nexus phones are an anomaly when compared to other similar Android phones as well.
        • iOS devices are more expensive to begin with.

          Really? The last time I looked at Verizon's site both the high end HTC and Samsung models were going for the same as an iPhone 5s with contract. I could see your point if it was without contract even though the Samsung was only 50 dollars cheaper but let's be honest, the vast majority of smartphone users on Verizon are under a contract.

          Even with all that included I guess by your metric if someone is driving a car that isn't a Nissan Versa they're just suckers
          • by mjwx ( 966435 )

            iOS devices are more expensive to begin with.

            Really? The last time I looked at Verizon's site both the high end HTC and Samsung models were going for the same as an iPhone 5s with contract. I could see your point if it was without contract even though the Samsung was only 50 dollars cheaper but let's be honest, the vast majority of smartphone users on Verizon are under a contract.

            Erm, trying to obfuscate it doesn't help.

            Samsung phones are expensive, but still cheaper than Iphones so this is simply Verizon stuffing their pockets.

            If you want to buy an unlocked Iphone in the US it costs significantly more because they have to be EU imports.
            Apple Iphone 5S 16 GB = $960. [expansys-usa.com]
            Samsung Galaxy S4 16GB = $600 [expansys-usa.com]

            Even though the SGS is also an EU import as well, it's over $350 cheaper. And the new cheaper Iphone 5C is still $700, making it $100 more expensive than the top of the line Samsu

        • My Sony Z1 cost £30 more than my iPhone 5 did the previous year (both bought unsubsidised). Even accounting for inflation, it still works out more in real terms.

          Based on this true anecdote, let's reverse your statement and see how ridiculous it sounds.

          *sigh* Android devices are more expensive to begin with. Android users obviously have more money to spend than brains. It has nothing to do with the quality of the device, and everything to do with being willing to be gouged.

          • by mjwx ( 966435 )

            My Sony Z1 cost £30 more than my iPhone 5 did the previous year (both bought unsubsidised). Even accounting for inflation, it still works out more in real terms.

            Based on this true anecdote, let's reverse your statement and see how ridiculous it sounds.

            Really,

            Iphone 5C = GBP 469 [expansys.com]
            Sony Xperia Z1 = GBP 419 [expansys.com]

            All you've demonstrated is that you overpaid for the Z1.

            A high end Android phone is cheaper than a low end Apple device.

            *sigh* iOS devices are more expensive to begin with. iOS users obviously have more money to spend than brains. It has nothing to do with the quality of the device, and everything to do with being willing to be gouged.

            Fixed (again).

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • And in other news, rioting at stores decreased by 21%.

      Which is a real bummer for me - my favorite part of Black Friday is Red Saturday, when I sit around watching videos and news reports of all the fights that broke out over Tickle-Me-Elmo, or whatever the duke-it-out toy is this year.

      Damn iPhone, ruining my schadenfreude....

      • This disgusts me.
        Walmart, and the other retailers, shouldn't be forcing their employees to come in and work in a madhouse like that on Thanksgiving day.
        These people should be at home with their families, beating them up.
        • This disgusts me.

          Walmart, and the other retailers, shouldn't be forcing their employees to come in and work in a madhouse like that on Thanksgiving day.

          These people should be at home with their families, beating them up.

          Um... I was talking about Black Friday, not Turkey Thursday.

          Regardless, I wholeheartedly agree.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02, 2013 @01:52PM (#45576501)
    Please, Slashdot, help me understand this random factoid and how it can be twisted to various predetermined narratives. Are Android users to poor to shop? No, wait, is it that Apple users are caught up with continuous shopping to flee from the ever-fading glow of material gratification? Is the latest iPhone made with parts that outgas consumption-inducing pthalates? Help me; I must know how these isolated data confirm what we all already know.
    • You are close to the point :)
      Considering as some pointed out that I OS devices are usually more expensive than others, the iOS users need to spent much more time online shopping to down to the same price in $/h spent shopping. So if my iPad costed 4 times as much as your Andriod pad, I have to spent 4 times as much time online. Obviously that leads to more items bought as I find it difficult to resist all the nice stuff I find in shops.

  • I really really doubt that. More likely it was down about 20% in un-inflated dollars.

    • Combine this with some reports that in-store shopping was down (even if including the days prior) and it may suggest that more people are moving to shopping online than in-store, not that revenue overall is up.

    • by smaddox ( 928261 )

      Inflation has been very low (and even negative at times) post the global financial crisis. Without some form of government intervention, it would have stayed negative, too, because deleveraging would have continued. However, with quantitative easing forcing short-term interest rates to the zero lower bound, private debt has started increasing again. And increasing private debt means increasing consumer spending.

      • by Marrow ( 195242 )

        I think that is wrong. While leverage does equal inflation to some degree, it does apply force that drives work to continue to meet debt obligations. The QE has replaced that form of inflation with a much worse kind of inflation. It turns the economy into a game of who can hold their breath the longest. Everybody loses and its a stupid game to begin with. And more people going into debt does not necessarily mean that more people are spending beyond their means and living lavishly. It means that

  • by sl4shd0rk ( 755837 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @02:00PM (#45576613)

    IBM calls it "cloudbased analytics" in it's report but I find it a bit creepy that IBM has data from "800 US retail websites". I suppose just counting request headers on a reverse proxy could do it, but having data from Pinterest and Facebook, as well as how many push notifications retailers sent, seems beyond simple methods.

  • I never understood why people think it's a good idea to enter (or even worse, store) credit card info in a phone. That's the height of stupidity, in my opinion.
    • Storing, absolutely. But why is it any less secure to enter the info into the browser of a phone than any other web browser in existence? You know, the people who have the technology to sniff an LTE or HSPA data connection are either not interested in something as mundane as your credit card number and/or they already have it.

    • by Junta ( 36770 )

      You mean that data that is stamped onto a plastic card in the clear in the wallet that is probably right next to said cell phone if someone robs you? The little card that people hand over freely to low paid waitstaff at a restaurant who might disappear for 5-6 minutes with your card out of sight? The card that is inserted into dozens of public card readers that might have a skimmer on them over the course of a week? Face it, the entire state of CC numbers is insanity from a security perspective (a single

  • So which company is reporting to whom about who did what on Cyber Monday or Black Friday, or any F---'in day? Is this how much every aspect of our lives is being tracked that in merely a few days we know this statistic at all, regardless of accuracy?

    Augh....

  • How many of the mobile purchases were done in a standard browser versus native apps? I suspect the latter is responsible for a surprisingly large share.
  • Price Checking (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ninjabus ( 3024459 ) on Monday December 02, 2013 @03:46PM (#45577729)
    People were price checking purchases using their phones, not actually looking to buy online. If someone is shopping on a tablet, they really mean to buy something with it.
  • Heh. At first, I misinterpreted the headline as meaning that 20% of online Black Friday sales were OF mobile devices...

    Last year my younger sister drove out to Best Buy in the dead of night to score a Galaxy S3 for $50, giving me her old Galaxy S, which I now use as a media center remote and miscellaneous android device. :P

  • Interestingly, iOS users accounted for 18.1% of online sales

    That is interesting - how could they see what they were ordering on their tiny screens?

    And for the fanbois: relax! It was a light-hearted joke.

  • Why is it that full sized iPads are still thought of as mobile devices when the vast majority of them never leave the couch?

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