Electronic payments exceeded expectations on Black Friday

The craziest shopping weekend of the year has passed, and initial reports are indicating that the nation's businesses made out like bandits between Thanksgiving and Small Business Saturday. Although Black Friday has traditionally been the busiest day for chain retailers' brick-and-mortar locations, it appears as though electronic payments played a major role this past weekend.

The International Business Times recently reported that digital purchases on Thanksgiving and Black Friday accounted for $3 billion in revenues across the nation, and that this represented a nearly 40 percent increase from last year. Many consumers seemed to prefer to avoid the hectic environments that were common in many malls and stores across the nation.

As such, Cyber Monday was set up by a highly active online shopping experience between Thanksgiving and Black Friday. According to the news provider, consumers spent roughly $1 billion on digital purchases on Thanksgiving, and another $2 billion on Black Friday, all through Internet portals and electronic payments.

What's more, the source noted that nearly one-quarter of all online purchases were carried out over a mobile device, while tablets and smartphones accounted for large portions of overall revenue. Consumers appear to continue to be more interested in shopping from virtually any location using their mobile devices.

The International Business Times added that mobile-based online purchases increased by 118 percent from 2012 to this year.

Organizations of all types and sizes need to consider launching electronic payments strategies to ensure the most optimal financial performances amid increased consumer demand for digital purchasing capabilities. Additionally, firms will need to ensure that all electronic payments frameworks, from ACH card transactions to wire transfers, are secured from data loss, theft and breach to avoid issues related to identity theft.