According to IBM Digital Analytics, Cyber Monday sales surged 26.6% year-over-year and are expected to total $1.5 billion. These results were consistent with our previous belief that the online channel would continue to become a more important retail destination, though we’re a bit surprised that growth was so strong on one day (since we’ve seen retailers run a variety of sales all week long). Two of the big winners yesterday appear to be Amazon (click ticker for report: ) and eBay (click ticker for report: ), where sales volumes increased 52% and 57%, respectively.
Sources cite the percentage of retailers participating in Cyber Monday sales at 97%, or almost every company that sells products on the Internet. It’s not easy to identify the winners and losers on a store-by-store basis, but we continue to believe Dick’s Sporting Goods (click ticker for report: ) and Macy’s (click ticker for report: ) will be among the biggest multi-channel winners. We think these elevated gains will become more tempered once consumers realize Cyber Monday-type promotions will run for the majority of the holiday season. Still, the internet’s role in holiday merchandising will continue to expand, in our view.
Not surprisingly, Apple (click ticker for report: ) continues to be a huge beneficiary this holiday season, though it hasn’t been promotional. IBM’s Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales data suggests that 88.3% of tablets sold during the time period were iPads compared to 2.4% for Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and 3.1% for Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) Nook. The difference is staggering, especially considering existing price points that are considerably lower for the Kindle Fire. Though the firm sold the tablet for $129 on Black Monday, that price is meaningfully below the company’s initial cost. Amazon continues to sell products for a loss, while Apple sells products for premium margins, yet the market assigns it a considerably lower earnings multiple.
Another report mentioned that Apple regained the market share lead from Android in the US, solidifying our belief that last quarter’s strong sales of the Samsung Galaxy SIII were a product of Android (click ticker for report: ) consolidation rather than market share gains. If this early data proves to hold true throughout the quarter, we will gain even more conviction in Apple’s ability to dominate the tablet and smartphone markets. We continue to hold the company in the portfolio of our Best Ideas Newsletter.