You know the holiday retail season is nigh when the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark releases its first projections, and it predicts shoppers will continue to break new ground online this year. Here’s what to expect in the five-day shop-a-thon commencing on Thanksgiving Day, according to IBM:
Digital deals will deliver. Consumers on average will spend 3% less online ($123.28), but they will buy 4.4 items—17% more than they did last year. The reason: They’ve become more comfortable with and more adept at using digital coupons.
Retailers will get more personal. As online retailers perfect methods of personalization through better data analysis, they will realize 10% higher click-through rates on emails. IBM estimates that 35% of those clicks will be made via mobile devices.
Mo’ mobile. For the first time, the majority (53%) of online shopping traffic this Thanksgiving will be mobile. The portable devices will account for 28% of all online sales, a 9% increase over 2013.
Tablets will pay the tab. The larger devices, able to display more merchandise choices, will account for twice as many transactions as smartphones. Cells, meanwhile, will do twice the online traffic of tablets.
IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark arrives at its forecasts by analyzing billions of online and in-store transactions across 370 performance indicators.
