For e-tailers this year, the news isn't all bad. ComScore yesterday reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November to December 2008 holiday season, and so far sales are mirroring last year's numbers. For the holiday season through Dec. 5, $14.92 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year, according to the company.
For the five days beginning Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday), the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season, sales totaled $3.74 billion, up nine percent versus year ago.
Two individual days in the past week achieved more than $800 million in online spending: Monday, Dec. 1 ("Cyber Monday") with $846 million, and Tuesday, Dec. 2 with $823 million.
The fastest growing product categories during the period from Dec. 1 through Dec. 5 were Sport & Fitness (up 35 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 24 percent), which saw sales surge as a result of significant price reductions on many items, including flat panel TVs, according to comScore.
Apparel & Accessories, the second largest retail category in terms of dollar sales (after Computer Hardware) during this period, also experienced strong gains (up 16 percent). The softest retail categories include Music, Movies & Videos (down 24 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (down 22 percent).
The news is relatively good for e-commerce sites, says comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni, given the bleak economy, but he warned that other factors, such as a shorter time-frame between Thanksgiving and Christmas, will still make it a wait-and-see year in terms of calling Q4 a success.
"The online holiday shopping season has picked up noticeably since Thanksgiving as consumers have given in to the holiday spirit — and very attractive retailer discounts," Fulgoni said in a statement.
He went on to say,"Particularly encouraging is the growth of nine percent in online sales that has occurred since Cyber Monday. While this growth is certainly a positive development in this tough retail season, it also needs to be put into perspective. With the compressed time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year — five days shorter than last year — we need to see continued strong growth during the critical weeks between today and Christmas if this year's shopping season is to at least match that of last year."
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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