Retailers need to focus on tablets as vast amounts of sales are coming through these devices, according to data from the Golden Quarter put out today by Rakuten. The company’s affiliate network, Rakuten LinkShare, saw nearly one in five sales made across tablets over the golden quarter (19%), a 58% increase on 2012.
Mobile sales continued to increase nearer to Christmas accounting for 24% of sales across the network from 1st November to 31st December, and with 81% of these sales coming from tablets these devices are driving sales for brands.
For the first time, Boxing Day was not the highest selling day for tablets, as Sundays repeatedly proved to be the key day for sales. The network saw the highest tablet sales on Sunday 1st December, even beating Cyber Monday. On Sundays consumers are at home browsing due to the more restrictive high street trading hours, whereas Cyber Monday drives desktop sales as consumers shop at work. Retailers should ensure that their online shop window is dynamic with timely and targeted offers on Sundays to cash in on weekend shoppers.
Fashion drove sales across tablets over the golden quarter, with an overall average of 47% of orders across the network. Luxury brands saw the second highest sales on tablet over the golden quarter and saw orders increase hugely from November to December by 81%. Rakuten Marketing analysts suggest that the annual Boxing Day sales were the reason for this rapid rise in tablet sales. Toys came in third over Q4 as parents purchase presents in the lead up to Christmas.
Tablet shopping habits varied across the country with shoppers in London buying luxury items (26.35%) whilst Newcastle-upon-Tyne almost exclusively bought clothing (99%). Toys were a popular purchase in Glasgow (11.72%) along with items from department stores (10.93%).
Mark Haviland, MD, Rakuten Marketing Europe commented: “Whilst our data shows that tablets were the golden device for the golden quarter, this platform is becoming increasingly influential all year round for brands. Creating tablet experiences means targeting consumers with entertaining content at home whilst they’re browsing in front of the TV or in the living room relaxing – and it’s the best time to convince a consumer to buy. Insights around tablet shopping enable us to reach customers effectively and coupled with a multichannel campaign which takes the single view of the customer into account, retailers have the tools to target customers in today’s competitive retail environment.”
