2013 was the shortest online shopping season since 2002 with only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite the condensed season, online sales grew by 18% over last year, and November plus December accounted for 27% of total annual sales for the average US retailer; a higher share than any other country.

1. 2013 eCommerce Benchmark
a
nd Holiday Shopping Report
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark

2. Table of Contents
2013 Holiday Season
2013 eCommerce Benchmarks
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
11
12
13
14
15
16
Season Summary
Mobile Shopping
Social Impact
Thanksgiving Day
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Merchant Type
Merchant Category
International Holiday Shopping
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
Acquisition Benchmarks
Engagement Benchmarks
Conversion Funnel Benchmarks
eCommerce Benchmarks
Loyalty Benchmarks
Mobile Benchmarks

3. Holiday Season Summary
Online Sales by the Hour
(In millions)
THANKSGIVING
2013 was the shortest online shopping season since 2002 with
only 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite
the condensed season, online sales grew by 18% over last
year, and November plus December accounted for 27% of total
annual sales for the average US retailer; a higher share than any
other country.
Compared to their European counterparts, US consumers
waited much longer to start holiday shopping. Unfortunately,
US consumers have been conditioned to wait for Black Friday
for the best dealsand when Thanksgiving falls late in the season
retailers miss out important shopping days. This year the late
start to the season cost retailers more than a billion in potential
online sales.
CYBER MONDAY
$100
$60
$20
12 :00 am
06:00 am
12 :00 pm
06:00 pm
11 :00 pm
Online Sales
(Relative to normal)
US consumers
wait for Black
Friday deal while
Europeans start
shopping earlier
and finish later.
4
UNITED STATES
EUROPE
2
NOVEMBER
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
BLACK FRIDAY
$140
DECEMBER
JANUARY
1

4. Mobile Shopping
In-store mobile shopping started to take off in 2012. This year,
while waiting in long lines on Black Friday or visiting family over
the Thanksgiving weekend, consumers said they would shop
40% more from their mobile device than last year. In 2013 mobile
shopping accounted for 14% of total holiday online sales for the
average US retailer and on some unique shopping days it was
much higher. Mobile shopping hit its peak at 26% of all online
sales on Black Friday.
Two important things happened on Black Friday to drive up
mobile shopping that retailers should expect to see more:
1. Smartphone apps allowed consumers to shop online while
waiting in long lines.
2. Doorbusters on Thanksgiving led to shopping fatigue on Black Friday.
Many consumers chose to shop on tablets from the comfort of their
couches rather than go out again.
Mobile Share of Sales
TABLET
SMARTPHONE
SUNDAY
CYBER
MONDAY
20%
10%
0%
THANKSGIVING
BLACK
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Online Sales by Day
TRADITIONAL
MOBILE
18 %
26%
$2,000
21 %
$1,000
$0
THANKSGIVING
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
BLACK FRIDAY
CYBER MONDAY
2

5. Pinterest and
continue
to gro w, but Facebook s till
represents 64% of social re ferrals.
Social Impact
2% of shoppers jump directly from a social network to a retail
website (last click), but 36% of U.S. con­ umers say that a significant
s
portion (about 30% or more) of their holiday purchases require
them to con­ ult social media before making a final purchase deci­
s
sion. As we noted in our recent Social Media Intel­i­ ence Report,
lg
with ads in the newsfeed and pro­ oted tweets and pins, adver­ is­
m
t
ing impres­ ions on sites like Face­ ook are up 85% ver­ us last year.
s
b
s
More rele­ ant advertising on Face­ ook, Pinterest and Twitter led
v
b
to 12, 24, and 17 percent social referral share growth respectively
for these networks, while other social sites, Tumblr, Reddit, Blog­
ger, and YouTube were down year over year. Retailers need to
understand the value of social media in the purchasing journey to
effec­ ively use social to drive online sales and not mea­ ure social
t
s
marketing by just look­ng at direct referrals.
i
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX || 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
24 %
INCREASE
year-over-year
17 %
INCREASE
year-over-year
12 %
INCREASE
year-over-year
2%
to social
SOCIAL
OTHER
36%
by socia l
3

6. Thanksgiving Day
Consumers took full advantage of their mobile devices to “shop on the
sly” on Thanksgiving Day. Retailers poured money into new mobile
capabilities this year by adding WiFi to key stores, expanding mobile
application offerings, and optimizing websites for easier transactions from
small screens. These investments in mobile paid off, driving customers
to use their smartphones and tablets more this year. Online shopping
peaked in the evening as consumers shopped from their phones while
taking advantages of deals in-store.
Online Sales by the Hour
(In millions)
2010
2011
2012
18 %
INCREASE
2013
year-over-year
$140
$100
$60
$2 0
12 :00 am
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
06:00 am
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
12 :00 pm
06:00 pm
11 :00 pm
4

7. Black Friday
Last year, sales started pick­ng up online at 6 a.m. ET on Black
i
Fri­ ay. This year things began ramping up three hours earlier as
d
a result of increased in-store mobile shopping and new strate­
gies that staged releases of “door-buster” promotions through­ ut
o
the day. With in-store shop­ ing hap­ en­ng early in the day on
p
p i
Thanksgiv­ng, con­ umers appeared to head home ear­ier and
i
s
l
con­ inue shop­ ing online. Online shop­ ing peaked between
t
p
p
11 a.m. and 12 p.m. ET on Black Fri­ ay, when retailers pulled in
d
$150 mil­ ion in a single hour.
l
39%
Online Sales by the Hour
INCREA SE
(In millions)
2010
2011
2012
2013
year-over-year
$140
$100
$60
$2 0
12 :00 am
06:00 am
12 :00 pm
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX || 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
06:00 pm
11 :00 pm
5

8. Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday shopping patterns were consistent with previous years.
Online sales peaked between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., with sales in that hour
alone totaling $150 million. On Cyber Monday, mobile played a lesser role,
as consumers seemed more than happy to sit at their work computers or
at home with their laptops in the evening hours and shop. Even at 18% of
sales on Cyber Monday, however, the total sales attributed to a tablet or
smartphone this Cyber Monday was $419 million ($290 million
from tablets and $129 million from smartphones). 29% of visits
to retailers’ websites came from smartphones, but these
visitors converted to sales at a much lower rate than
did tablets or desktop users.
16 %
INCREA SE
Online Sales by the Hour
year-over-year
(In millions)
2010
2011
2012
2013
$140
$100
$60
$2 0
12 :00 am
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
06:00 am
12 :00 pm
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
06:00 pm
11 :00 pm
6

9. Merchant Type
Not all types of retailers faired equally during the 2013 holiday season. Brick and Click retailers grew faster than Online Only
retailers (25% vs 17% growth YoY). Brick and Click growth came from mobile shopping (21% of online sales over Thanksgiving
weekend). Online Only and other non-traditional retailers captured a greater share of sales later in the season.
Share of Sales by Da y
THANKSGIVING
Mobile Share of Sale s
20%
+4.5%
+6.4%
BLACK FRIDAY
CYBER MONDAY
50%
2012
+5.3%
+5.7%
2013
30%
15 %
10%
10 %
5%
ONLINE ONLY
BRICK CLICK
BRAND MANUFACTURER
CATALOG TV
0%
ONLINE ONLY
BRICK CLICK
BRAND MANUFACTURER
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
CATALOG TV
7

10. Merchant Category
Mobile Share of Online Sales
TABLET
20%
SMARTPHONE
10%
2013
2012
3
2
HARDWARE
AUTOMOTIVE
OFFICE
SUPPLIES
ELECTRONICS
JEWELRY
SPORTING
GOODS
MASS
MERCHANT
FOOD /
DRUG
BOOKS /
MEDIA
TOYS /
HOBBIES
FLOWERS /
GIFTS
APPAREL /
ACCESSORIES
HEALTH /
BEAUTY
HOUSEWARES
1
SPECIALTY
OFFICE
SUPPLIES
ELECTRONICS
AUTOMOTIVE
PET CARE
SPECIALTY
FOOD /
DRUG
BOOKS /
MEDIA
MASS
MERCHANT
HARDWARE
HEALTH /
BEAUTY
FLOWERS /
GIFTS
HOUSEWARES
SPORTING
GOODS
JEWELRY
APPAREL /
ACCESSORIES
TOYS /
HOBBIES
0
Category breakdowns of mobile and social influenced shopping reveal important differences retailers should keep in mind. Mobile is
more common when shopping for traditional gift items like toys, apparel, and jewelry and less common in higher-ticket categories like
automotive and electronics. Also, the purchase of softgoods like housewares and health items are more likely to be influenced by social
media while hardware and automotive retailers see relatively few social referrals.
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
8

11. International
Biggest Online Shopping Day
Shopping data reveals that many global retailers are exporting
US Cyber Monday promotions, but the relatively less known
Green Monday remains the natural peak sales day for many
consumers all around the world.
Christmas online shopping around the world
Key dates by country (2, 3, 4x normal daily sales)
UNITED STATES
UNITED KINGDOM
FRANCE
GERMANY
NORDICS
(By country)
GREEN MONDAY (12/9)
Germany
Nordics
Netherlands
Switzerland
Austria
Japan
CYBER MONDAY (12/2)
United States
United Kingdom
Italy
Spain
Canada
SINGLES DAY (11/11)
China
Green Monday
CLICK FRENZY (11/19)
Australia
LES SOLDE S (1/8/14)
France
CHINA
3
2
1
Normal sales level
0
NOVEMBER
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
DECEMBER
JANUARY
9

12. International (cont.)
Holiday Share of Annual Online Sales
25%
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
15%
AUSTRIA
FRANCE
SWITZERLAND
AUSTRIA
SWITZERLAND
GERMANY
FRANCE
GERMANY
UNITED KINGDOM
NETHERLANDS
ITALY
CANADA
NORDICS
CHINA
JAPAN
SPAIN
NETHERLANDS
AUSTRALIA
UNITED STATES
5%
Mobile Share of Holiday Online Sales
20%
CANADA
NORDICS
UNITED STATES
CHINA
SPAIN
ITALY
JAPAN
AUSTRALIA
10%
UNITED KINGDOM
US retailers earned nearly 27% of their total annual online
sales during the holiday shopping months of November and
December. Switzerland followed closely by France, Austria,
and Germany saw the lowest share of annual sales during the
holiday months. Those same four contries also trailed the
pack in their share of sales from mobile devices, further
emphazising the importance of mobile to eCommerce success
in 2013.
Consumers in the UK, followed closely by Australia, proved to
be the most mobile shoppers during the last holiday season.
Japan continues to see more smartphone shopping with more
than double the share of purchases coming from smartphones
than any other country. Tablets are disproportionately less
important in Japan but that won’t be true for long.
10

13. 2013 Acquisition Benchmarks
56%
% DIRECT
Direct Load / Total Visits
52%
% SEARCH
Search Referred / Total Visits
% SOCIAL
Social Referred / Total Visits
% OTHER WEBSITES
Other Referred / Total Visits
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
40%
BEST OF THE BEST
BEST OF THE BEST
1.6%
BEST OF THE BEST
AVERAGE
36%
AVERAGE
0.9%
AVERAGE
31%
BEST OF THE BEST
20%
AVERAGE
11

14. 2013 Engagement Benchmarks
91%
AFFINITY
Returning Visitors / Total Visitors
BEST OF THE BEST
66%
STICKINESS
Multi-page Visits / Total Visits
FREQUENCY
Visitors / Visitors (Returning)
4.42
AVERAGE
3.60
AVERAGE
13.16
10.88
13.36
10.10
RECENCY
Average Days Since Last Visit
BEST OF THE BEST
RELEVANCY
Page Views / Visit (Multi-page)
CONSUMPTION
Average Minutes Per Visit
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
AVERAGE
54%
BEST OF THE BEST
BEST OF THE BEST
82%
BEST OF THE BEST
8.75
BEST OF THE BEST
AVERAGE
AVERAGE
6.97
AVERAGE
12
8

15. 2013 Conversion Funnel Benchmarks
95%
ADD-TO-CART RATE
Carts / Visit (Non-bounce)
CHECKOUT COMPLETION
Orders / Checkouts
CHECKOUT
INITIATION RATE
Checkouts / Carts
BEST OF THE BEST
68%
BEST OF THE BEST
72%
BEST OF THE BEST
AVG. UNIT VALUE
Direct Load / Total Visits
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
AVERAGE
49%
AVERAGE
52%
AVERAGE
4.15
AVG. SIZE ORDER
Units / Orders
89%
BEST OF THE BEST
110.93
$
BEST OF THE BEST
2.90
AVERAGE
$62.82
AVERAGE
13
8

16. 2013 eCommerce Benchmarks
3.28%
CONVERSION (ORDER)
Orders / Visits
BEST OF THE BEST
AVG. ORDER VALUE
$
Revenue / Orders
REVENUE PER VISIT
Revenue / Visits
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
4.21
$
BEST OF THE BEST
228.53
BEST OF THE BEST
1.96%
AVERAGE
$147.81
AVERAGE
$2.49
AVERAGE
14

17. 2013 Customer Loyalty Benchmarks
99%
BEST OF THE BEST
SHOPPERS
BEST OF THE BEST
PURCHASE AND
RETURN RATE
REPEAT
PURCHASE RATE
AVERAG E
3%
AVERAG E
BEST OF THE BEST
BEST OF THE BEST
97%
90%
AVERAG E
11%
AVERAG E
REMARKETING
EFFECTIVENESS
LOYALTY RATE
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
BEST OF THE BEST
BEST OF THE BEST
270%
AVERAG E
103%
AVERAG E
15

18. 2013 Mobile Traffic Benchmarks
PHONE % OF VISITS
TABLET % OF VISITS
PHONE: RELATIVE
ENGAGEMENT
TABLET: RELATIVE
ENGAGEMENT
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | 2013 Holiday and eCommerce Benchmark
20%
12%
BEST OF THE BEST
15%
BEST OF THE BEST
AVERAGE
11%
AVERAGE
93%
BEST OF THE BEST
70%
AVERAGE
111 %
BEST OF THE BEST
99%
AVERAGE
16