(This was originally posted at the PayPal Forward blog.)
While the inevitable last minute gift purchasing will still take place, with this year’s shortened shopping window (for the first time since 2002, there are only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas), a growing number of consumers got an early jump. For many, people were so eager to hit the Black Friday sales early that they didn’t even wait for Friday at all, but many still sat through their entire turkey dinner and watched a little football before hitting the deals online. According to PayPal data, consumers in the US took to their mobile devices to shop throughout the day, but the busiest time was between 7:00 and 8:00pm PT.
As stores continue to open their doors even earlier, many shoppers decided skipping the lines and using their mobile device was the way to go. This Thanksgiving saw a 91% increase in consumers shopping through PayPal mobile around the world compared to Thanksgiving 2012, with this year’s Thanksgiving mobile TPV increasing by 114.7% compared to Thanksgiving 2012.
Where were most of these early birds? Shoppers in these cities made the most mobile purchases through PayPal on Thanksgiving 2013:
1. Houston
2. Chicago
3. Los Angeles
4. Miami
5. New York
What do you think – did you take part in this year’s Thanksgiving sales? PayPal is continuing to track consumer behavior all Thanksgiving weekend, so check back at the PayPal Forward blog to see the findings.
Photo: istockphoto