Cyber Monday Crashed Target’s Website

Cyber Monday, the online shopping spectacle, lived up to expectations with sales growing 12 percent year-over-year to a record $2.98 billion, according to Adobe Digital Index.

Smartphones and tablets accounted for 49 percent of shopping visits (38 percent smartphones, 11 percent tablets), resulting in 28 percent of online sales (17 percent smartphones, 11 percent tablets).

New Yorker Anna Osgoodby was one of the many online shoppers who spread her purchases throughout the holiday shopping weekend.

Many retailers, both online and in-store, offered bargain hunters deals across the four days and beyond. Interestingly, broadband traffic attributed to e-commerce shopping activities on Cyber Monday dipped dramatically from Sunday, Nov. 29 and was actually three percentage points below average daily volumes, which was a similar trend in 2014. The most successful retailers over the holiday weekend appear to have been the so-called omnichannel firms, like Best Buy and Sears, that have done a better job of integrating online and physical stores. Starting 10 a.m. ET on Monday, deals enrolled at $490 million. Amazon said some orders in the US and Canada had incorrectly applied shipping charges, but it discovered the error and refunded the charges.

Target’s website posted an error message citing abnormally high traffic.

The Cyber Monday web increase came after a significant jump in Black Friday sales online, estimated at about a 14 percent rise, while in-store traffic declined 13.6 percent.

This year marks the tenth-anniversary of the Cyber Monday event, which was first coined in 2005. But it looks like not only did online steal the shopping-show over the weekend, it also stole family dinners. Now, even with broadband access, Cyber Monday continues to be a day when retailers pull out big promotions.

Online sales soared past the $3 billion. The report says that more consumers are marking purchases on their smartphones more than ever before, and that revenue generated by iPhones increased 46% year-over-year. That’s up from the 9 percent pace seen throughout the year.

Mastercard, which keeps a track on spending in its card network as well as other forms of payments, said that overall spending was significant. Consumers saw an average discount of 20%.