Holiday online sales were underway in strong fashion yesterday. Experts were forecasting online sales to increase on Cyber Monday, but didn't know they would be as impressive as they were, even record-breaking.
MSN reported this Cyber Monday was the biggest in its' history. Sales grew this year over 30% overall, according to the IBM benchmark, which performs the sales tracking. "Cyber Monday was not only the pinnacle of the Thanksgiving shopping weekend but when the cash register closed it officially became the biggest online shopping day ever," said Jay Henderson, strategy director at IBM. Data tracking firm, ComScore, had a different figure of 20% increase from 2011, yet still is an online sales record of $1.5 billion.
Department stores saw the highest online sales growth with 43%. Wal-Mart and BestBuy are a few examples of retailers that viewed it was a must to be involved in Cyber Monday. These were also two retailers among those that users searched for the most online. So far this holiday season, online sales are higher than in-store sales.
Online shopping still only makes up 10% of the total retail sales. However, with the heavy numbers from Cyber Monday, retailers are seeing consumers are becoming more comfortable shopping online. Mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and iPads, are adding a higher level of convenience and shopping ease. Shopping online will continue to grow, as well as the customer demand to receive their products delivered to their front door faster.
Same-day couriers like A-1 Express are able to help e-retailers offer delivery their online products faster. Companies such as eBay, Macy's, Target, and even Wal-Mart, are already testing same-day delivery in several of their markets. A-1 Express is a nationwide courier with the courier expertise to meet any of your online order fulfillment needs, even during the fast-paced holiday season. Whether a small business or large corporation, A-1 Express can provide a fast courier solution to help you take advantage of the online sales growth.
Reference: 11.27.12, Yahoo News/CNNMoney, Blake Ellis, Cyber Monday sales reach new record