Boxing Day sees 38% more mobile traffic than Cyber Monday

Rating: Ah, but UK consumers made 50% more transactions on Cyber Monday

Much as GoMobile News had predicted, in the UK it was Boxing Day [December 26th 2012] which experienced the greatest amount of mobile data traffic, according to Usablenet. The 26th saw 38 per cent more mobile traffic than on Cyber Monday. That day has traditionally been the biggest day for online shopping. However, the UK and USA had different dates in 2012 for Cyber Monday which is – usually the Monday after Black Friday. The latter is the Friday following Thanksgiving in the USA. So in the United States Cyber Monday fell on November 26th [2012], but it was a week later in the UK on 3rd December [2012] as this coincided with payday for most of the UK population. Anyway, these mobile data figures were calculated from a selection of Usablenet’s client mobile sites – which includes leading retailers such as ASOS, Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Carphone Warehouse and Topshop.

Xmas shoppers in the UK had to endure endless queues; jostling crowds; and perhaps even a tussle or two.

Online retailers also probably have to thank the Tube drivers’ union, Aslef, for helping to contribute to this as the drivers had called for a strike on Boxing Day on London’s Underground system for the third year in a row.

The Usablenet figures support a report published by Ofcom in December 2012 that named UK consumers as the biggest individual online purchasers in the world.

The 55 per cent increase in mobile page views registered by Usablenet demonstrates that even more shoppers bypassed bricks & mortar for tablets and smartphones to shop on their own terms.

“Data from Boxing Day and other key shopping days such as Cyber Monday has demonstrated that consumers are fundamentally changing the way they shop,” argues Carin van Vuuren, Usablenet’s marketing chief.

She continued,”Mobile is now a fully-fledged channel and the best mix of multichannel combines it with in-store platforms to offer customers the widest and most flexible range of shopping choices.”

Usablenet’s data also highlights the different ways in which consumers chose to shape their shopping on two of the most important retailing days.

UK shoppers keen to complete their Xmas shopping on Cyber Monday may have viewed fewer pages, but they made 50 per cent more transactions in their rush to purchase gifts.

On Boxing Day, however, shoppers were more likely to be browsing for a bargain, spending a full minute more on sites than in the pre-Xmas period.