US E-Commerce Sales Rise 5% Over Christmas 2009,
by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Retail e-commerce spending for the holiday season from November 1 through Christmas Eve reached approximately USD27bn, an increase of 5% over the same period a year ago, according to a report by comScore inc, digital market consultants and statisticians.
For the period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve, after adjusting for an additional shopping day in 2009, sales grew by approximately 3.5%.
“Following last year’s disappointing performance when sales fell by 3%, the e-commerce sector saw a positive 2009 holiday shopping season with sales up by 5%,” observed comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
Fulgoni continued:
“Online sales growth this year was driven by a continued increase in the number of people buying online, but consumers’ economic challenges resulted in a slight decline versus last year in the amount spent per buyer."
"The season featured a strong start as a result of early retailer promotions and a very strong finish helped by the snow storms that occurred the weekend of Dec 19 – 20, retailers’ willingness to offer free shipping later in the season, and consumers’ confidence in expedited shipping arriving in time."
He went on to observe: "This was also a year when retailers substantially boosted their use of social network marketing and the larger retailers significantly outperformed their smaller brethren. In these tough economic times, the retailers with sufficient financial resources and a willingness to invest in aggressive marketing and free shipping offers were clear winners."
And concluded: "In terms of individual product categories, consumer electronics saw particularly strong sales growth of slightly over 20%, while jewelry and watches also turned in a strong performance, but this followed a very weak 2008 season.”
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