• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, November 26, 2013

A full week before Cyber Monday, a clear picture of the holiday e-shopping season is already taking shape. Researchers are now confident that 2013 is the year that mobile will truly make its mark.
 
Indeed, mobile traffic accounted for nearly 32% of all online shopping traffic on Monday -- up 42% compared to the same period last year, according to the latest IBM Digital Analytics report. Plus, mobile sales exceeded 13% of all online sales -- up 54% year-over-year, according to IBM’s research unit.
 
Overall, online sales on Monday were up nearly 12% year-over-year.

Performing particularly well on Monday, the department-store segment saw online sales grow by close to 72% year-over-year -- with mobile sales growing by 54% year-over-year.

The health and beauty segment also had a respectable showing on Monday, with total online sales increasing by nearly 38% over 2012 and mobile sales rising by nearly 89% year-over-year.
 
Another emerging trend this season is multiscreen shopping. While smartphone traffic accounted for 20% of all online traffic -- versus tablets at 11% -- it’s clear that smartphones were the browsing device of choice for digital consumers.
 
However, when it came to making actual purchases, tablet users drove close to 9% of online sales -- almost double the total for smartphone users, who drove 4.6%.
 
When it comes to operating systems, Apple continues its dominance in the mobile shopping arena. As a percentage of total online sales, iOS was more than four times higher than Android, driving 11.06% vs. 2.5% for Android.
 
On average, iOS users spent $108.68 per order compared to $93.36 for Android users -- a significant difference of 16%. iOS also led as a component of overall traffic with 21.93% vs. 9.75% for Android.
 
Also of note, while marketers continue to rely on social media as a driver of brand loyalty, the benchmark revealed an interesting trend when comparing two well-known sites. Shoppers referred from Facebook averaged $79.12 per order --  16.5% lower than Pinterest referrals, which drove $92.18 per order.
 
However, Facebook referrals converted sales at a 2.6% higher rate than Pinterest referrals, perhaps indicating stronger confidence in network recommendations.

"Mobile Shopping" photo from Shutterstock.