Instant Alert: Black Friday online sales hit an all-time high – thanks in part to the rise in mobile commerce

Posted On 6:50 AM // Leave a Comment

Your Message Subject or Title

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS

UNSUBSCRIBE

VIEW ONLINE

Black Friday online sales hit an all-time high – thanks in part to the rise in mobile commerce

by Rachel Green on Nov 28, 2017, 9:48 AM

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Black Friday online sales hit an all-time high this year, growing 24% year-over-year (YoY), according to data from Salesforce’s retail intelligence unit and Adobe Analytics, reported on by Fortune.

Online spending totaled $5 billion, up significantly from $3.34 billion last year.

Mobile devices are becoming a more important part of the way people shop. This was the first year that computers generated less than half of all online orders, comprising only 49% of online sales on Black Friday.

At the same time, purchases made on smartphones rose to make up 40% of sales, up 29% from last year. This is in line with BI Intelligence's forecast — which expects e-commerce to grow at a 15.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to hit $798 billion in 2021 — and could largely be a result of improved friction in online checkout and better mobile shopping experiences that are leading to rising conversion rates.

That could have a strong impact for mobile wallets, which have been lagging.

Mobile wallets help reduce some of that friction. Checking out on mobile can often be friction-filled. Small screens and slow connection speeds can cause consumers to abandon carts in the process, which can cost merchants significantly. Mobile wallets can help ease some of the friction associated with mobile buying by removing the need to manually fill out forms with payment information, making the checkout experience more convenient.
And so wider availability for mobile commerce (m-commerce) could point to rising adoption down the line. The increasing use of smartphones for online purchases could potentially translate into more adoption of mobile wallets, especially because wallets like Apple Pay and Android Pay are now available in-browser more than ever before. If consumers begin using mobile wallets and buy buttons in-browser, they may start using them more in-store, growing overall volume.

To receive stories like this one directly to your inbox every morning, sign up for the Payments Briefing newsletter. Click here to learn more about how you can gain risk-free access today.

Share the latest business news with your network: