IBM reports that online shopping on Black Friday returned good profits, with growth being expressed in double digits figures. IBM’s third annual Black Friday Benchmark Report analyzes the online retail sector and each segment.  Generally speaking, IBM’s online sales have grown by 15.9 percent, with consumer spending averaging $170-190 per order.

As far as luxury goods spending goes, this sector saw some success on Black Friday as well.  Jewelery products have also risen by 17.6 percent, demonstrating the impact online shopping has had on this particular sector.  It’s a sign of strong promise, as luxury brands find more ways to innovate their e-commerce strategies. Social media has also been an important part of this innovation, as consumers share their brand preferences and shopping habits across the web, and in real-time.  Recent acquisitions by Gilt and other developments show how this industry is growing.

When it comes to favorite brands, shoppers check various social media apps to view deals, with Facebook dominating the apps market. The shopping tools used by consumers are also changing, with mobile phones at the center of this shift; 5.6 percent of people logged onto a retailer’s site using a mobile device, representing a jump of 26.7 percent compared to the prior Black Friday.

John Squire, chief strategy officer of IBM Coremetrics said that ‘social media and mobile become the growth engines for retailers everywhere as consumers embrace online shopping not only for its ease and convenience, but as a primary means of researching goods and services.’

Department store sites are witnessing a 17.7 percent increase in the number of online shoppers, whereas the health and beauty sites have higher figures of about 73.1&  more new consumers completing their first purchase on their sites, and 53.4% more shoppers in the number of visits in which consumers completed an order. The highest spending is made between the 1^st and the 26^th of November, of about $ 11.65 billion, suggesting an increase of 13 percent in comparison to figures from 2009.