• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 23, 2016

Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) Wednesday released data analyzing online sales for the holiday season that shows consumers have spent $25.59 billion between Nov. 1 and Nov. 22, 2016, up 3.5% year-over-year (YoY). Twenty-one of the 22 days already have exceeded $1 billion in online sales. 

Search ads -- at 40%, up 4% compared with last year -- drove the bulk of revenue during the first 22 days in November, according to ADI.

Direct traffic drove 28% of sales -- up 4%, respectively -- and referral sites like RetailMeNot and CNET contributed 16%, down 17% YoY. Email contributed 15%, up 1% YoY. Social media drove lower sales than other channels at 0.8%.  

Analysis from the ADI survey of 500 U.S. consumers, conducted in mid-November, shows that 45% of consumers plan to use their smartphone more this year than last for holiday shopping. For those ages 25 to 34, the number jumps to 59% and for ages 18 to 24, the number jumps to 64%.

Mobile accounted for 47% of visits and 29% of purchases during the first 22 days in November 2016 -- about a 46% mobile share of visits and 24% mobile share of sales.

The highest conversion rates are on desktop -- averaging 3.2% -- followed by tablet at 2.9% and smartphone at 1.3%, according to ADI.

Operating systems make a difference when it comes to average order value (AOV). iOS is outperforming Android by 13% on AVO about $132 vs. $117, respectively.

Overall, consumers are spending less per order YoY on video game consoles, -7%; jewelry, -14%; and computers, -13%. Spend per order is increasing for pet care, tablets and apparel, rising 140%, 7%, and 6%, respectively.

As of Nov. 22, overall out-of-stock product rates are 2.3% lower YoY at 5.2%, ADI estimates. Most popular products low in stock include the Nintendo (NES) Classic Edition, Samsung Gear S3 Smartwatch, PlayStation VR Launch Bundle, Hatchimals, “Speak Out” game, PJ Masks toys and the Trolls Collector Pack