26% in isles go mobile on Cyber Monday

Online shoppers in Hawaii and Alaska using mobile devices accounted for 26.6 percent of each state’s Cyber Monday buying, well above the 18 percent national average, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Adobe Digital Index of online shopping analyzed nearly 900 million visits to 2,000 retail websites on Cyber Monday as well as more than 3 billion visits since Thanksgiving.

Cyber Monday sales in the U.S. reached $2.29 billion, a year-over-year increase of 16 percent, and 18.3 percent of those sales were derived from mobile devices, 80 percent more than in 2012.

Hawaii shoppers accounted for 0.3 percent, or $7.7 million, of the total nationwide online sales.

About $419 million of online sales were made via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and of that figure, mobile device-wielding Hawaii shoppers bought more than $2 million worth of merchandise.

Nearly half of the purchases, or 45.5 percent, were made on devices using the iOS operating system, Adobe said.

Holiday weekend offers boost to auto sales

DETROIT » Americans proved last month that they’re head over heels about small sport utility vehicles. They also wanted to buy more than just video game consoles and big-screen TVs on Black Friday.

November auto sales rose 9 percent above a year ago, with a solid piece of the gains coming over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Sales ran at an annual pace of 16.4 million cars and trucks last month, the best in almost seven years.

The numbers gave further evidence that the small SUV is replacing the car as the vehicle of choice for families and aging baby boomers.

Erich Merkle, Ford’s top sales analyst, said the small SUVs gained 2 percentage points of market share in November compared with last year, while small and midsize cars lost 2 points combined.

Compact SUVs like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V now make up 15.5 percent of U.S. sales. Through November, Americans bought just over 1.8 million of them, a 21 percent increase from a year ago.

Dealers said November sales started slowly but rose after Thanksgiving. Toyota said more than 25 percent of its sales came during the holiday weekend.

Hawaii State FCU to expand membership

The Hawaii State Federal Credit Union has received approval to expand its market area to include select employee groups such as businesses, associations and nonprofits. The membership expansion went into effect June 1.

Hawaii State FCU’s 77,000 members include state, Hono­lulu City and County and Maui County employees. The credit union has $1.3 billion in assets.

The charter change will allow Hawaii State FCU to serve members beyond just state and City and County employees. The National Credit Union Administration approved the expansion in April, and it was adopted by the credit union’s board of directors in May. Member prospects will be assessed by Hawaii State FCU’s business development group for qualification requirements, including size and industry.

ON THE MOVE

First Wind has hired Crystal Kua as director of external affairs, Hawaii. She will oversee community outreach; interaction with local, state and federal policymakers; and collaboration with stakeholders working toward the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. She was previously with Good Beginnings Alliance and has more than 20 years of communications experience, including working for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

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