Deren Baker, CEO, Jumpshot

As marketers geared up for the 2017 holiday shopping season, major brands and e-commerce sites seized on the annual opportunity to generate online sales. But this year saw a much different approach that proved effective. The winning strategy: understand your customer across any device including desktop and mobile, provide deals for an extended period of time and leverage Amazon to convert the sale.

The biggest takeaway from this holiday shopping season? We live in an online world, and purchase and sales data reflect that. It is easier to purchase online than to fight in-store crowds. Digital transactions on Cyber Monday reached a record $6.59 billion, according to Adobe Insights.

Moreover, Jumpshot’s data showed that two-thirds of online shoppers, both desktop and mobile, purchased on Amazon. And, that number is continuing to grow. Compared to 2016, Amazon’s market share has grown by about five percent on desktop, where the majority of online purchases occur.

Below are the three biggest findings from this holiday shopping season.

Desktop beats mobile in number of purchases.

Although mobile is the hype and continually increasing, consumers prefer to make purchases on desktop. Jumpshot’s Amazon December 2017 US data shows about 72 percent of purchases occurred on Desktop.

Why? Consumers are researching deals around these days and although they may browse on mobile, they are purchasing more on desktop.

But mobile is still a very important part of the marketing mix and should not be ignored by any means. According to Adobe, smartphones have become the “de facto device” for on-the-go shopping, as mobile sales on Cyber Monday reached $2 billion for the first time.

So why are more people purchasing on desktop than mobile? Brands and e-commerce sites are pushing huge Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals at consumers. However, consumers are most likely sorting through deals on their mobile device, researching various sites over a period of time. When they’re ready, they get on desktop to make their purchase(s). We are seeing less impulse buys around the holiday shopping season, and more-thought-out, heavily researched purchase decisions.

Amazon is the clear winner. But, others are making a move to catch up.

Here is what we know: Amazon, by far, exceeded purchases and sales against all other e-commerce sites. Two-thirds of online shoppers purchased on Amazon during the holiday season. They are the dominant player in the online space and it is a challenge for anyone to catch up as Amazon continues to grow its market share.

However, do not count out others that are making strong moves to capture a bigger piece of online sales during the holiday season. Big retailers like Walmart, Target and Macy’s made a bigger push earlier than usual with deals that lasted for a longer period of time. For example, Macy’s had a Cyber Week special from Nov. 26 – Nov. 29. Macy’s improved its desktop conversion rates by 7-8x year-over-year.

It’s no longer just about a single day, but rather an extended period of shopping activity.

This year, it was almost hard to tell that there was even a specific day, like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, when you needed to make a purchase to get a good deal. Instead, e-commerce sites offered deals throughout the month and extended them beyond the Thanksgiving holiday.

In November alone, e-commerce generated over $33 billion in sales, up 17 percent from 2016, according to Adobe.

So what does all of this mean for retailers looking to take advantage of the holiday shopping season?

Figure out how to chip away at Amazon to capture its growing share of purchases and sales. Compared to 2016, Amazon’s market share has grown by about five percent on desktop, where the majority of online purchases occur. Though Amazon still continues to lead the pack in terms of overall conversion rate for both desktop and mobile, sites like Macy’s have made significant improvements to their conversion rate year-over-year.

As more and more data becomes available, especially across sites like Amazon where the majority of purchases occur, marketers need to make sure they understand their customer behavior across devices as they research and purchase over a longer period than before.

Jumpshot provides digital intelligence based on data collected from a global panel of 100 million devices.