Survey: E-commerce holiday spending nears $28 billion
Online sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas up 21 percent
January 02, 2008
Reston, Va.—Nearly $28 billion has been spent online during the first 57 days of the 2007 holiday season (Nov. 1-Dec. 27), representing a 19 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to
ComScore Inc.
And even as the holiday shopping season winds down, online sales are still relatively strong.
According to ComScore Chairman Greg Fulgoni, the day after Christmas saw online sales of $545 million, more than double the sales on the same day last year.
"This would appear to indicate that consumers were willing, and able, to take advantage of the attractive late-season promotions and price discounts offered by retailers this year," Fulgoni said in a statement.
The core of the holiday shopping season—the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas—saw online sales increase 21 percent in 2007 versus a year ago, a full 2 percentage points higher than the overall holiday season growth rate.
This year, there were 32 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, compared with 31 days last year.
"Warm weather during the early part of November took its toll on online retail sales and played a role in holding down the growth in spending over the entire holiday season to a 19 percent rate, which is below last year's level of 26 percent," Fulgoni said. "However, if we look at the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we see online spending growing at a healthier 21 percent rate, which I think is encouraging given the economic challenges facing consumers this year as a result of higher gas prices, lower home values and a jittery stock market."
ComScore forecasts that online retail spending will reach $29.5 billion for the 2007 holiday season, up 20 percent from $24.6 billion in sales last year.
ComScore Inc. measures the digital world based on a global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given the company permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. ComScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions.
RSS
