The hottest selling tablet over this past Black Friday weekend was easily the iPad tablet by Apple, proving once again that the computer maker is the dominant force in the tablet sector. Oddly enough, most people who bought an iPad this weekend ironically did so by shopping for it from another iPad, according to Information Week. The iPad was the best-selling gadget for Thanksgiving weekend this year, and according to a study that was conducted by IBM, it was also the most commonly used device for online purchases, too.
The IBM study revealed some interesting statistics:
- 10 percent of all online purchases were made from an iPad tablet
- 8.7 percent were made using an iPhone
- 5.5 percent were made using Android devices
- 88 percent of all sales made from tablets were from an iPad
- Barnes & Noble Book accounted for 3.1 percent of sales
- Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD accounted for 2.4 percent of sales
- Samsung Galaxy helped generate 1.8 percent of all online transactions
- Microsoft’s new Windows 8 OS and Surface were not accounted in this study
The study was mulled by IBM from the Digital Analytics Benchmark, a cloud-based platform that generates analytics from more than 500 retailers across the nation. The system generates numbers fed to it from the tallies of all of these retailers. It helps retailers decide which devices to keep in stock and what apps and software to invest in.
Thanksgiving Sales Up Over Last Year
According to IBM, Thanksgiving sales were up 13.4 percent from last year. And Black Friday sales skyrocketed up a whopping 20 percent from last year, testament to a recovering US and international economy.
“This year’s holiday shopper was hungry for great deals and retailers didn’t disappoint, rolling out compelling offers which consumers gobbled up on Thanksgiving straight through Black Friday,” stated Jay Henderson, the strategy Director for IBM Smarter Commerce.”The big winners were chief marketing officers who used technology to deliver customer experiences that not only connected shoppers with personalized deals but did so at the right touchpoint and at precisely the right time and place, whether on their couch or the store floor.”
More Consumers Shopping Online This Year
Many people did not wish to stomach the long lines, crazy checkout lanes or crowded aisles at stores, and instead chose to shop online this year. More than 24 percent made purchases online this year, as opposed to the 14.3 percent who did last year. Amongst mobile devices that were used for online shopping, 58 percent were smartphones while 41 percent were tablets.
According to Tonya Bradford, a professor of business at Notre Dame, online shopping is becoming increasingly popular due to the convenience, which enables consumers to spend more time with their loved ones over the holidays. “To remain relevant, retailers must find opportunities to participate in holiday rituals in ways that aid consumers’ attainment of the holidays they imagine – enjoying time with family and shopping when convenient.”
