Mobile Traffic Sets Christmas Day Record

Online sales climbed 16.5% year-over-year on Christmas Day as a record number of shoppers took to their mobile devices to make purchases and use newly-acquired gift cards.

Mobile traffic on Dec. 25 soared to the highest level of the season, accounting for 48% of all online traffic, according to new data from IBM Analytics. That's nearly double from the same period in 2012.

Tablets were the device of choice for online purchases, with Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS used five times more than Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android, according to IBM. Apple users also spent more on average at $93.94 an order compared with Android’s $48.10.

The data come as online retailers like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) record some of their best-ever holiday seasons.

Amazon on Thursday said more than 36.8 million items were ordered on Cyber Monday alone, setting a new company record.