Facebook has released a new report which shows that the online conversation around major shopping days is increasingly switching to mobile, with the share of online conversions conducted on mobile versus desktop across 17 markets rising significantly on Singles’ Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
Singles’ Day is likely the one that stands out in that group – originating in China, Singles’ Day is held on November 11, and is a celebration of single people (the date being 11/11, all singles). The first Singles’ Day was held in 1993 and it has since grown to become the largest online shopping day of the year, globally.
And while a China-specific event may not immediately seem relevant to all businesses, Facebook’s research shows that recognition of Singles’ Day is growing across borders, as are the other major shopping days listed.
First off, on the growth in conversation – as per Facebook:
“Our 2017 analysis across 17 markets showed that on key shopping holidays, a greater share of online conversions occurred on mobile than on desktop compared with 2016. The increase was particularly notable on Singles’ Day.”
The US-specific chart reflects growth across all the events.
Which is actually fairly similar to the trends seen in the overall market view (or at least, the 17 markets included).
Facebook says that holiday shoppers are likely choosing mobile over desktop because of convenience, with the increased capacity to purchase anytime, anywhere.
“Buying on mobile is also now easier than it was a few years ago due to improved transaction experiences, more affordable data plans and greater access to WiFi.”
And as interest shifts, so too do ad budgets – Facebook also notes that in 2017, mobile ad spend made up 62.5% of digital ad spend, and nearly a quarter of total ad spend (eMarketer stats).
But the key note Facebook’s looking to highlight is that these holidays are going global.
According to Facebook data, Singles’ Day conversation saw a significant rise in the APAC markets studied (AU, HK, JP, KR, PH, TH), generating 1.3x more conversions on November 11 than on an average day that same month. There were also 1.8x more online conversions about Black Friday in EMEA markets studied (DE, ES, FR, GB, IT and PL) and 1.2x more in APAC markets studied (AU, HK, JP, KR, PH, TH.).
The data suggests that these holidays are now becoming more globally relevant, and may be worth adding into your marketing plans as key areas of focus, and/or key opportunities to expand your business into new markets.
The discovery that more conversations are going mobile is no major revelation – that trend is evident in most areas – but it is still relevant to consider when trying to reach users on these major shopping days, when they’re significantly more likely to be in a spending mindset.
Some worthy notes to keep in mind for 2018.