(By Balachander) Online sales on Thanksgiving jumped 17.4 percent thanks to early promotions followed by Black Friday where sales grew 20.7 percent, according to findings by IBM (NYSE: IBM).
According to IBM, sales of mobiles surpassed 16 percent, led by the iPad which reached nearly 10 percent of online shopping. This was followed by iPhone at 8.7 percent and Android 5.5 percent.
The report showed that iPad dominated tablet traffic at 88.3 percent followed by the Barnes and Noble Nook at 3.1 percent, Amazon Kindle at 2.4 percent and the Samsung Galaxy at 1.8 percent.
Growth in holiday sales was led by Department stores, Health and Beauty, Home goods and apparel sales.
Shoppers referred from Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube generated .34 percent of all online sales on Black Friday, down more than 35 percent from 2011.
"This year's holiday shopper was hungry for great deals and retailers didn't disappoint, rolling out compelling offers which consumers gobbled up on Thanksgiving straight through Black Friday," said Jay Henderson, Strategy Director, IBM Smarter Commerce.