I think it’s safe to say everyone knows what the terms ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ mean with regard to Holiday shopping. While we just got through it, the sales stats are already beginning to hit the news as they are higher than what was predicted.
As for retail, bricks & mortar sales were expected to be up by at least 4% but some analysts are seeing 8-9% over 2017. E-com was expected to be up around 16% and we are seeing it up around 19% through Black Friday. Holiday e-com sales for 2018 are now projected to be around $123.4B.
Consequently, there’s a new interesting trend to follow called m-commerce (m-com). How much of this revenue is driven by mobile devices? Last year it accounted for approximately 33% of the spending and almost 56% of the online traffic as reported by emarketer.com. It’s expected to jump by 32% this year versus last.
According to Aaron Orendorff Editor in Chief of Shopify Plus, “Just over one year ago, mobile’s domination over desktop solidified itself in online sales in terms of usage.”
Since then, the question haunting e-commerce has been, how do you close the sales gap to sell more on mobile devices since it seems to be a preferred late generation platform, and especially if “56% versus 44% use desktop and 67% of the sales revenue is desktop versus 33% of sales on mobile.” (Data via Adobe Digital Insights: “2017 Holiday Recap”)
Where desktop still outperforms mobile in sales worldwide, businesses on the AMS preferred platforms have nearly reversed those numbers: 64 % of revenue during Cyber Monday and 59.6% of all Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales took place on a mobile device. This is not a phenomenon; it’s a real trend. This drives home the real importance of making your web platform highly m-commerce friendly.
As Orendorff states, “The dominance of mobile and particularly the disparity between worldwide orders and having the right platform to support reveals one insight vital for e-commerce the whole year round: a responsive and pretty site isn’t enough anymore. You need to be on top of your game to be a star!”
Optimizing your site for a mobile first world will be a great enhancement to your e-com sales. Here are just a few pointers to be thinking about for mobile enhancements:
- Page curl notification with personalized promotions.
- Mobile payments must be made a simple as possible.
- The speed of check out matters – consider employing dynamic checkout buttons.
AMS works very closely with several online platforms, but of course has its favorites and would be happy to provide further advice to make your site more mobile friendly.
You are welcome to contact John B., the Freight Freak, at [email protected]
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About the Freight Freak:
John Bevacqua is the VP of Logistics at AMS Fulfillment. His area of excellence is in creating distribution and fulfillment operations that function as a capable interface between suppliers, retailers, and wholesale distributors. His experience includes developing and leading FedEx/ Kinko’s Distribution Services into the FedEx post acquisition, USA Wireless Technologies, and a top Logistics Management company. He has also worked with third party fulfillment companies, preparing him for his current position with AMS Fulfillment.