ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE:
IBM) predicts online sales will grow by more than 14.5 percent over
2014. Led by mobile shopping, consumers indicate the Apple Watch,
Samsung, Sony and LG TVs, Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and more are at
the top of their shopping lists, according to the IBM Watson Trend
App.
Available for free download in the Apple App Store, IBM Watson
Trend features the hottest 100 consumer electronics, toys and
health and fitness products at any given time.
For Black Friday IBM has identified additional popular products
and the stories behind them:
- Beats by Dre: Beats headphones, earbuds, and speakers
have been wildly popular since first appearing in 2008.
Watson finds growing chatter
around the Beats Solo2 Wired On-Ear headphones as well as the
release of Dr. Dre's unheard tracks on Apple's Beats 1 streaming
music channel. Additional trending headphones include Sennheiser,
Bose, Skullcandy and Sure.
- Jordan Shoes: Known best for its original Air Jordan
line of basketball sneakers, Jordan
Brand has released a new line of performance running shoes.
Watson finds that the line is
being lauded for both their aesthetics and foot support and is
gaining popularity among consumers who sported the original
sneakers in the 1990s.
- Nintendo Super Smash Bros: Nintendo's Super Smash Bros
for Wii U is generating significant buzz and Watson knows why. While the game features
popular Nintendo characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Pokemon,
it's the "unprecedented" addition of Final Fantasy's Cloud Strife
that has gamers buzzing with excitement.
- MeccaNoid Personal Robots: Personal robots including
those from Star Wars are popular this year but many parents are
also looking to more "edutainment" focused gifts. Watson reports that many parents are looking
at MeccaNoid, which teaches kids from ages 8 to 12 how to create,
learn and code so they can ultimately build their own robot.
IBM has also identified the fastest trending products. These are
based on the impact (size of the conversation) and the momentum
(the rate of growth of the conversation):
Toshiba Satellite Laptops
- Disney Princess Legos
- NordicTrack Treadmills
- Klipsch Speakers
- Asus Zenbook Laptop
IBM Watson Trend not only reports on what products are popular
and why but how consumers are shopping. According to IBM,
mobile led the way for early-Black Friday shoppers who are spending
more money on gifts this year than in 2014. IBM Watson Trend
identified the following Thanksgiving
Day shopping insights:
- Consumer Spending Remains Strong: Online sales for
Thanksgiving were up 26 percent over
the same day in 2014, with consumers spending $123.45 per order.
- Mobile Shopping Sets New Records: Mobile traffic reached
nearly 60 percent of all online traffic, an increase of 14.8
percent over 2014. Mobile sales also grew, with 40 percent of all
online sales coming from mobile devices, an increase of 23.8
percent over Thanksgiving Day
2014.
- Smartphone Shoppers Dominate: Smartphones were the
Thanksgiving shopper's device of
choice, accounting for 46.7 percent of all online traffic versus
tablets at 13.7 percent. Smartphones also surpassed tablets
in sales, driving 23.9 percent of online sales versus tablets at
16.1 percent.
IBM Watson Trend leverages natural language and machine learning
technologies to uncover consumer preferences, pinpoint patterns and
trends and reveal why people are choosing certain products or
brands. IBM Watson Trend also features predictive analytics that
allow it to forecast if a particular trend is a fleeting fad or
will continue to remain strong.
To learn more about IBM Watson Trend and to download the app
please click here. For a real-time look at how consumers are
shopping across the desktop, tablets and smartphones please click
here.
Doug Fraim
IBM Media Relations
1 (617) 501-6376
Lizette Kodama
IBM Media Relations
1 (646) 675-0750
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SOURCE IBM