A newly released report from Salesforce found social media was the breakout channel for holiday shopping traffic in 2018, with use of mobile devices a contributing factor. Social traffic grew 34 percent year-over-year for the entire holiday season.
Facebook/Instagram accounted for 93 percent of social-referred visits.
Social feeds delivered product inspiration and brand discovery in 2018, with traffic share from social channels averaging 6.2%, up 22% since last year. Traffic from social was highest among holiday shoppers on mobile devices compared to desktop and even tablet.
The report found that social fuels the “most talked about” brands and products, and the role of social in sharing, liking, and influencing spending is growing. The top 5 retailers were Amazon, Walmart, Etsy, eBay, and target; the top 5 brands were Nike, Apple, Nintendo, Starbucks, and Sony. The top 5 products were the iPhone, Kindle, iPad, PS4, and Alexa.
Mobile helped drive traffic and orders, and for the first time, mobile shopping eclipsed desktop:
- 66 percent of traffic came from mobile devices, an increase of 11 percent over 2017. A resounding 74 percent of shoppers browsed from mobile phones on Christmas Day.
- 48 percent of orders came from mobile devices, compared to 44 percent from computers (mobile orders were up 19 percent over 2017).
Salesforce identified three top takeaways for retailers planning for the 2019 holiday season:
- Invest in mobile and social. The 2018 holiday season proved that mobile and social should be the pillars of your strategy next year.
- Improve product findability on your website. To stand out in a crowded shopping landscape, AI and site search help shoppers find what they seek.
- Support shoppers across multiple channels. Give shoppers a seamless experience across service, marketing, and commerce on all their favorite devices and channels.
Salesforce sourced data for the report from live digital commerce sites transacting on the Commerce Cloud, customer service activity from across Service Cloud, and marketing activity from across Marketing Cloud. The activity was collected from the peak Christmas holiday shopping season, November 20-26. The report focuses on the retail sector, and all data was aggregated and anonymized to produce a diverse analysis set.
You can find more information on the Salesforce.com website.
