comScore: Desktop Sales on Cyber Monday 2014 Sets New Record

Desktop sales for Cyber Monday this year was one of the biggest spending days on record. According to a report from comScore, a little over $2 billion was generated from online desktop spending, enough for a 17% increase from last year. With more purchases than on Black Friday and the Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday had the “heaviest online spending day in history and the only day ever to surpass $2 billion in sales.” [See Figure 1 below]

comScore also took note of the weekend after Black Friday, particularly Saturday sales that broke through the billion dollar mark online for the first time. Despite Sunday not emulating the same performance, the days combined brought in a little over $2 billion in sales, but had a much larger growth at 26% from last year’s weekend.

The improving sales during Cyber Monday seem to quell any talk that the day should not be considered as significant as Black Friday for business owners. As comScore chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni stated: “Any notion that Cyber Monday is declining in importance is really unfounded, as it continues to post new historical highs and reflects the ongoing strength of online this holiday season.”

As Figure 2 above shows, desktop sales during the holiday season have been increasing over the years, with their peaks still being within the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. While comScore does not have data yet for the rest of the year, it would seem that current consumer trends show that there will be more desktop sales to be made within the next few weeks.

The comScore report also puts into perspective multi-channel optimization for businesses and how they should plan out their strategies for the holiday season. Despite more focus being put on mobile browsing over the past few years, businesses should not neglect their desktop sales as well since this would be where their sites are primarily built.

As per comScore, $26.7 billion has been spent online in holiday shopping so far, a 16% increase over last year. As Fulgoni says, the current numbers show an “accelerating shift to online buying” and that “it may be more a change in shopping behavior than a lack of consumer demand.”

How accurate is comScore’s reporting with regard to your own holiday season performance? Let us know in the Comments below.

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