US 'Cyber Monday' spending up 16% driven by mobiles

Workers at a FedEx shipping facility prepared for the onslaught of online orders on 'cyber Monday'

US shoppers spent a record $2.29bn (£1.4bn) on 'cyber Monday' with significantly more purchases coming from mobile devices.

According to the Adobe Digital Index survey, mobile sales rose 80% from last year, and overall sales were up 16%.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said more than 1 billion people visited its website on Monday.

The stronger-than-expected figures came after a disappointing Black Friday sales weekend.

Mega Monday

'Cyber Monday' was a termed coined in 2005 by the internet retail association Shop.org to mark the first Monday back at work after the Thanksgiving holiday, where US consumers were encouraged to continue their holiday shopping online.

Since then, online sales have soared.

In 2011, the day became the biggest online shopping day of the year in the US, a position it has held on to since.

Sales on mobile devices increased more than 80% from 2012

This growth comes as sales at physical stores disappointed, with retailers posting their first decline in Black Friday sales in seven years.

It could be that online sales have begun to cannibalize sales at traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Another measure of online sales, IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark, showed record-breaking online shopping on Black Friday and over the holiday weekend.

From Thanksgiving Day through to Cyber Monday, online sales climbed 16.5% from last year.

International event

It comes perhaps as no surprise that shoppers across the globe have been eager to take advantage of the promotions typically offered to US consumers on cyber Monday.

This year, according to e-commerce firm Borderfree, sales by US firms in China increase five times compared to last year, and sales more than doubled in South Korea.

Amazon UK said Monday was its busiest day ever, with 47 orders per second throughout the day.

Overall, it said it sold 4.1 million items in the UK on Monday.