Record-Setting Cyber Monday: Sales Rise 18 Percent, Mobile Drove A Third Of Orders

The latest data from ecommerce reporting firm Custora Pulse shows this Cyber Monday was the biggest day in ecommerce history. Online sales rose 18 percent compared to Cyber Monday 2012.

Mobile again showed its ascendency, with one in three purchases completed via phones and tablets on Monday. Both tablets and phones took order share away from desktops/laptops this year. According to Custora’s data, phones drove 18 percent of orders in 2013, compared to 13 percent in 2013. Tablet share of orders increased to 11 percent, up from 8 percent in 2012.

Cyber Monday’s record results follow strong ecommerce performance on Black Friday. Not only were orders up, conversion rates were also higher on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year compared to last year. Conversion rates for online commerce rose from 3.5 percent last year to 3.8 percent on Cyber Monday 2013. Black Friday saw conversion rates rise from 2.9 percent in 2012 to 3.2 percent this year.

Ecommerce Conversion Rate

Apple devices continue to drive the lion’s share of mobile purchases, though Android is gaining traction. Apple iPhones and iPads accounted for 80 percent of Cyber Monday’s mobile orders. The share of mobile orders from Android devices ticked up significantly from 13 percent in 2012 to 20 percent this year.

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other social networks did little to generate direct sales, according to Custora Pulse data. Social networks drove less than 1 percent of online sales on Cyber Monday. That said, while it’s harder to measure the direct attribution of social media on bottom-line orders, says Corey Pierson, Custora CEO, social networks are where brands are communicating with their customers and creating awareness among target prospects. “It’s fairly rare for someone to go directly from that link on Facebook and immediately to an order,” Pierson told Bloomberg TV.