IBM: Christmas online sales up 8.3%, iOS numbers nearly quadruple Android’s

Christmas is a religious and cultural celebration for billions of people, which means it’s also a big day for online shopping. Online sales grew by 8.3 percent over 2013, according to the latest figures from IBM.

Mobile traffic accounted for more than half (57.1 percent) of all online shopping traffic, up 18.6 percent over 2013. Furthermore, these visitors weren’t just browsing: Mobile sales made up over a third (34.8 percent) of total Christmas Day online sales, an increase of 20.4 percent year-over-year.

As always in the U.S., iOS beat out Android in mobile shopping this Christmas. iOS users averaged $97.28 per order compared to $67.40 for Android users, a difference of 44.3 percent.

iOS traffic accounted for 39.1 percent of total online traffic, more than double that of Android, which drove 17.7 percent of all online traffic. More importantly, iOS sales accounted for 27 percent of total online sales, nearly four times that of Android, which drove 7.6 percent of all online sales.

As we’ve noted before, the discrepancy between Android and iOS for these numbers can often be attributed to the fact that the latter has a larger market share in the U.S. The difference is even larger for sales than for traffic, however, which is likely because iOS users have more money than Android users. Additionally, iPads are more popular than Android tablets in the U.S. when compared to iPhones over Android smartphones, and it’s naturally easier to buy on a device with a larger screen.

IBM found smartphones drove 40.6 percent of all Christmas online traffic, more than 2.5 times that of tablets, which accounted for 15.9 percent of all traffic. That said, tablets drove 18.4 percent of online sales compared to 16.3 percent for smartphones, a difference of 12.4 percent. Tablet users also typically spend more per order compared to smartphone users, but IBM didn’t break out this difference in this year’s Christmas figures.

It did, however, compare desktops to mobile devices. PCs accounted for 42.6 percent of all online traffic but grabbed 65.2 percent of all online sales. Consumers also spent more while shopping on their PCs, with an average order value of $107.72 compared to $88.70 for mobile shoppers, a difference of 21.4 percent.

IBM offered two other interesting findings:

• Average order value was $100.33 up 6.2 percent over 2013. Shoppers also purchased an average of 3.5 items per order, down 1.4 percent. This trend may indicate that shoppers are becoming more comfortable and digitally savvy in how they use online coupons and rebates to secure the best bargains.
• Facebook referrals drove an average of $89.80 per order, while Pinterest referrals averaged $99.86 per order.

IBM’s data comes from its real-time Digital Analytics Benchmark, which tracks approximately 800 U.S. retail websites. All the above figures are for Christmas Day, which means eyes will soon be turning to Boxing Day.

Christmas may not be as huge as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as it’s a real holiday. Nonetheless, smaller as it is, its online sales are growing like on any other shopping day.