Shopping through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is re-shaping how purchases are made during one of the biggest consumer spending weekends of the year. According to the National Retail Federation, more than 141 million Americans shopped over the holiday weekend and they spent $407 on average. This results in revenues of approximately $57.4 billion. A recent report done by IBM on this past weekend’s shopping frenzy and Cyber Monday sales suggests a strong move to mobile in purchasing habits this year.

According to the IBM holiday report, mobile traffic grew to nearly 32 percent of all online traffic, an increase of 45 percent over Black Friday 2012 weekend. Mobile sales were also strong, reaching 17 percent of total online sales, an increase of nearly 55 percent year-over-year. In BIA/Kelsey’s Consumer Commerce Monitor™ (CCM) data survey, 26 percent of consumers surveyed said that they participate in local shopping via online. We expect this figure to have increased on par to what IBM data shows. Our findings also show that 33 percent and 40 percent of consumers use their tablet and smartphone for local shopping at least once a day, respectively. Both BIA/Kelsey and IBM data show strong growth for mobile devices in purchasing behaviors among shoppers.

The IBM report suggests that smartphones tended to be more of a browsing device, while more purchases were made on the tablet devices. Smartphones drove 20 percent of all online traffic on Black Friday compared to tablets at 12 percent, making it the browsing device of choice. Tablets drove 12 percent of all online sales, twice that of smartphones, which accounted for 6 percent of all online sales. Similarly, CCM shows that 81 percent of consumers use their tablets to purchase locally compared to 63 percent who use their smartphone.

Mobile is key as far as accessing local shopping information goes. The most common method for accessing local shopping information on a smartphone or tablet is searches, according to 66 percent of CCM survey respondents.

Of course, all businesses consider the context of their products and pricing, but to be competitive and cut through the competition for Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, the data seems to show that businesses should consider being more mobile-friendly.

More information on CCM is available on the BIA/Kelsey website.

We’ll be covering this and other themes in great depth at our upcoming Leading in Local conference, December 10-12 in San Francisco. Be there and join the conversation.

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BIA/Kelsey is releasing the first wave of its Consumer Commerce Monitor™ just in time for the holiday shopping rush. BIA/Kelsey and research partner Ipsos, surveyed consumers to gain insights into how local shoppers in the U.S. are likely to find, engage and transact with local businesses. More information about the survey is available in our press release, Local Consumers Likely to Flex Multi-Channel Muscle During 2013 Holiday Shopping Season, According to BIA/Kelsey, which came out yesterday.

“Our first wave of the Consumer Commerce Monitor™ survey reveals local shoppers are using a wide range of traditional and digital channels to engage with local businesses,” said Steve Marshall, Director of Research, BIA/Kelsey. “On Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, we expect local consumers will leverage all the tools at their disposal – online, mobile, social, promotions, loyalty programs and more – as they search for that special gift and hunt for great deals.”

So how will consumers be shopping online this holiday season? Consumers will be using multiple devices to shop online this year. According to the consumers surveyed, 60% will be using a laptop computer, 57% a desktop computer, 37% a smartphone, and 19.4% will be using a tablet.

According to the consumers surveyed, more than a quarter (26%) of consumer local purchases in the last six months, be it online or in-person, were made through promotions or sales, including discount deals, daily deals, coupons or similar discount offers.

Study findings will be made available for purchase in November. Email info@biakelsey.com to be notified when the study is available.

BIA/Kelsey will preview findings from Consumer Commerce Monitor™ during a free webinar on Wednesday, November 6. Register here.

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