The U.S. online retail industry experienced strong growth on Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to data analytics from iGoDigital, the market and technology leader in personalized product recommendationsand guided selling tools. Representing sales activity for many of the top online retailers and many of the world’s most successful retail brands, iGoDigital customers experienced a 30 percent surge in revenue and traffic as 226 million Americans flocked to ecommerce sites and stores over the Thanksgiving weekend, capped off by Cyber Monday shopping.

 “We are thrilled to see the growth of revenue and traffic across our client base, as it’s truly telling of both the strength of holiday shopping and our clients’ needs in the marketplace,” said Eric Tobias, president of iGoDigital. “We see the early shopping surge as a key indicator of a bigger shopping season over 2010.”

 “Additionally, the use of mobile devices and tablets has become the new differentiator in this year’s holiday shopping. With these devices, consumers are able to take advantage of deals, no matter where they are, what they’re doing or what day it is. "The key differentiator between the two shopping days is no longer “online” or “in-store” because shoppers are expecting to take advantage of a seamless shopping experience between both. The retailers who are recognizing this trend will definitely benefit this holiday season.”

 As of Tuesday, November 29, iGoDigital’s analytics revealed the following trends:

 Cyber Monday 2011 Compared to Cyber Monday 2010 (year/year)

• Consumer Spending Increases: Online revenues were up an average of 17 percent.
• Cyber Monday Traffic, Revenue Increases: Web traffic increased by 12 percent and revenue for the day was up 17 percent.
• Apparel Sales Down From 2010: Sales of apparel goods were down from Cyber Monday 2010 Sales, but apparel was up on Black Friday.

 Black Friday 2011 Compared to Black Friday 2010 (year/year)

• Consumer Spending Increases: Online revenues were up an average of 30 percent.
• Apparel Purchases Strong on Black Friday: Sales for apparel were up by 20 percent on Black Friday, whereas Cyber Monday apparel sales were down.
• Season of Giving: Consumer sales of toys and gifts were up an average of nearly 30 percent.
• Premium Is “In”: Consumer sales of premium items were up 50 percent.
• Mobile – The New Medium: 9.73% of consumers used a mobile device to make a purchase or visit retailers' sites during the first hours of Black Friday shopping (4am-noon).

These data points were pulled from iGoDigital's Customer Intelligence Engine which serves as the platform for all iGoDigital tools. The platform analyzes individual shopper behavior, the wisdom of the crowds and individual product attributes to show the most relevant product recommendations, in real time, to each shopper.