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Black Friday Numbers Show Search Rises, Mobile Rocks

Thanksgiving Day data released from ChannelAdvisor shows search rose 4.7% as of noon Eastern, compared with last year, and overall sales on Google Shopping grew 35.9%, compared with 2014.

The "date-shifted" data to compare the actual day, Nov 26, 2015 vs. last year Nov 27, 2014, saw shoppers hit the online offers early. It analyzes about 12 hours worth of online shopping.

At the end of Thanksgiving Day same store sales (SSS) at Amazon rose 28.9%; eBay, 7%%; and other third-party marketplaces, 182.6%, per ChannelAdvisor.

Overall, comScore estimates e-commerce will grow 15% this year, compared with last, and so far for Thanksgiving Day the industry sits at 50.6% on a SSS basis, which ChannelAdvisor notes is much faster than the e-commerce trend. Putting it all in perspective, ChannelAdvisor saw 19% SSS growth for mid-day Thanksgiving and ended Thanksgiving up 20%.

Smartphones rocked online sales, rising 52% on Thanksgiving Day, compared with 28% recorded for the same day in 2014.

Adobe reports that consumers had already spent more than $1 billion online as of 6 p.m. Eastern on Thanksgiving Day. The company's data projects sales to exceed $1.7 billion for the day, with 22% YoY growth expected during the evening hours. The data is based on about 100 million visits to more than 4,500 U.S. retailers.

Mobile devices drove $283 million in sales so far taking 26% share with about 15% belonging to smartphones, and 11% to tablets, according to Adobe data.

IBM predicts online sales will grow by more than 14.5% compared with 2014. Analysis from IBM Watson Trend report show how consumers shop. The data suggests mobile led early-Black Friday sales with shoppers spending more on gifts this year than in 2014. Online sales for Thanksgiving rose 26% compared with the same day in 2014, with consumers spending $123.45 per order.

Mobile traffic reached nearly 60% of all online traffic, an increase of 14.8% more than in 2014. Mobile sales also grew, with 40% of all online sales coming from mobile devices, an increase of 23.8% more than Thanksgiving Day 2014.

Smartphones accounted for 46.7% of all online traffic vs. tablets at 13.7%. Smartphones also surpassed tablets in sales, driving 23.9% of online sales vs. tablets at 16.1%. 

Monetate data shows consumers searching more compared with last year, but spending less, based on analysis of 34 million online shopping sessions in the U.S. across retailers like Macy's and Best Buy. However, the data shows an increase in sales on mobile devices. Mobile phone shopping traffic rose 119%, iOS up 85% and Android up 44%, but the add-to-cart rate fell 26%.

Black Friday online shopping traffic rose 21%. Consumers are using mobile phones to browse and spending more on desktops, averaging $181; and tablets, $170; and mobile phones, $125. iOS spend $163 on average; and Android, $132.

Overall, Monetate data shows Thanksgiving Day purchases were down, both online and off. Conversion rates fell 23%. Average order value fell 3%. Bounce rate continues to hold steady this week at 33%.

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