Dive Brief:
- Digital sales originating from desktops during the holiday season grew 6% in 2015 to reach $56.4 billion, according to media measurement and analytics from comScore.
- Mobile spending grew 59% year-over-year to reach $12.7 billion, and overall digital commerce grew 13% to $69.1 billion.
- Cyber Monday was the biggest day for online spending for the sixth year in a row, logging more than $2 billion in sales, with the following day, “Giving Tuesday,” coming in second and Black Friday third.
Dive Insight:
Mobile buying helped e-commerce reach a new peak of $69.1 billion during the holiday season, comScore says, up 13% from 2014’s $61.3 billion. Purchases made via tablet and smartphone jumped 59% to reach 18% of all digital commerce, or $12.7 billion.
The surge in mobile commerce stole some of desktop’s thunder. ComScore forecasted a 9% rise in digital sales made via desktop, but buying on larger screens grew only 6% to $56.4 billion—still 81% of digital sales. The season still posted 16 days with more than $1 billion in sales made via desktop.
Overall digital sales fell just shy of comScore's predictions for 14% growth in e-commerce.
“If there is an underlying takeaway from this holiday season, I think it will be remembered as the one where mobile 'ate' brick-and-mortar,” said comScore chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni in a release. “Mobile became an essential shopping channel, nearly doubling desktop in total retail traffic while seeing growth rates approaching 60% year-over-year.”