Holidays Off to Strong Start for Online Retailers (Update 1)

Tech giant Apple (AAPL) got in on the Black Friday excitement last week, offering deals on 19 products and accessories.

As part of the promotion, pricing for Apple's iPad with Retina Display started at $458, down from $499. Pricing for the iPad 2 started at $368, down from $399, while pricing for the fourth-generation iPod Touch started at $178, down from $199.

Research released late on Friday by IBM also highlighted the rise of mobile shopping this year. On Black Friday, 27.8% of consumers used a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 17% in 2011, according to IBM, with 14.2% of consumers making a purchase via mobile, compared to 9.5% in 2011.

The statistics from IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark also found that shoppers using Apple's iPad were more likely to make purchases than shoppers using other mobile devices. Shoppers referred from social networks such as Facebook (FB) and Twitter generated 0.18% of all online sales on Black Friday, according to the research.

Amazon shares were up 1.68% to $243.9 during Monday afternoon trading, while eBay gained 5.1% to reach $51.51. Target fell 2.67% to $62.76, with Wal-Mart slipping 0.43% to $69.90.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

Follow @jamesjrogers

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