China and Brazil are both the “superpowers” of their respective continents and are often looked to by surrounding countries as a stabilizing force and an indicator of the financial climate of the geographic region. While both are viewed by many eCommerce professionals as an emerging market, there are some stark differences between the future of eCommerce in each country – as well as a few similarities.

Below is a table comparing the two countries, with data provided by CNN Money and Forrester Research: (more…)

An eCommerce infographic featuring statistics that recaps the top stories and events of 2011. Feel free to share this with your friends/colleagues – we hope you have a great 2012!

With the biggest online shopping day of the year finally over, how did Cyber Monday 2011 stack up against years past and other major online shopping days of this year’s holiday season? Let’s take a look…

• According to IBM Coremetrics, Cyber Monday sales were up 33% from last year, a huge increase even from previous years. Here is a great graph highlighting exactly what times of the day sales were the best for Cyber Monday 2011…

…As you can see sales followed the same trend as previous years until the evening. In years past many holiday shoppers logged off as business hours came to an end, and although there was a small surge of sales in the late evening, sales generally peaked in the afternoon (2:05 PM was actually the peak sales time for Cyber Monday this year). However, on Cyber Monday 2011, sales not only hit record highs in the afternoon but there was a fundamental shift in the way consumers viewed Cyber Monday in the evening. Instead of going home and turning on the TV or partaking in other activities, consumers kept their computers, tablets, and smart phones by their side and continued shopping. Sales continued to rise in the early evening to record levels which were significantly higher than recent years.

• Although Coremetrics doesn’t release final sales statistics, comScore has reported Cyber Monday 2011 sales as $1.25 billion dollars, or up 22% from Cyber Monday 2010. Although this figure is not fully aligned with the 33% reported by Coremetrics, it certainly supports the notion that Cyber Monday sales in 2011 increased substantially over the previous year. (more…)