E-commerce retail sales are on track to grow 15.2 percent this year based on data collected through Christmas Day by Chase Holiday Pulse, which measures results at Chase Paymentech’s 50 largest e-commerce merchants.
For the holiday season overall (Oct 29th to Dec 25th), transaction growth was up 24.3 percent YoY, sales growth was 15.2 percent YoY, while average ticket (number) continued its decline by 7.3 percent YoY.
Chase Holiday Pulse combines aggregated payment processing data from 50 of Chase Paymentechs largest U.S. e-commerce merchants and shows the daily percentage of growth, year over year, in dollar sales and transaction counts. The Pulse also compares the daily average ticket amount for the same e-commerce merchants from the 2011 holiday season to this year. The data represents online purchases for which customers used credit cards, debit cards, gift card redemptions, and alternative methods of payment.
The Pulse e-commerce data is not intended to evaluate any one particular merchant and does not claim to represent the entire e-commerce industry as a whole; rather, it provides a consistent set of merchant indicators year-over-year based on a select set of Chase Paymentechs largest e-commerce merchants.
As we review results from the full season, here are some of the leading trends:
Cyber Monday morphs into Cyber Week: For the period Friday, Nov. 23 (Black Friday) through Friday, Nov. 30, Pulse showed YoY sales increased by 22.5 percent and transactions increased by 32.7 percent potentially powered by online retailers providing additional incentives on the days following Cyber Monday.
Green Monday kicked off the busiest week of the season: In terms of total transaction volume, Pulse shows that the period from Dec 10th (Green Monday) to Sunday, Dec 16th was the busiest seven-day period of the holiday shopping season, with YoY transaction up 16.6 percent. Consumers increasing use of mobile devices: in 2012 the ‘Showrooming phenomenon went mainstream as consumers used their mobile devices to research items they saw in-store, but then purchased online.
Merchants extending offers beyond traditional sales days: Heavy promotional activity from merchants during the holiday season was especially evident this year, with merchants attracting more online shoppers with email, online coupons, and discounts. To illustrate this, Pulse data for the weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday reflected an average sales growth of 38.3 percent YoY.
Continued decline of Average Ticket Price: Average Ticket Price continues to trend downward with year-to-date overall season results down 7.3 percent driven in part by additional free shipping offers from merchants and continued customer demand for low ticket digital content. These trends plus the combination of the extended shopping season and consumer ability to shop online up until the Saturday before Christmas have ensured most online merchants a strong and successful 2012 season.
Cyber Monday morphs into Cyber Week: For the period Friday, Nov. 23 (Black Friday) through Friday, Nov. 30, Pulse showed YoY sales increased by 22.5 percent and transactions increased by 32.7 percent potentially powered by online retailers providing additional incentives on the days following Cyber Monday.
Green Monday kicked off the busiest week of the season: In terms of total transaction volume, Pulse shows that the period from Dec 10th (Green Monday) to Sunday, Dec 16th was the busiest seven-day period of the holiday shopping season, with YoY transaction up 16.6 percent. Consumers increasing use of mobile devices: in 2012 the ‘Showrooming phenomenon went mainstream as consumers used their mobile devices to research items they saw in-store, but then purchased online.
Merchants extending offers beyond traditional sales days: Heavy promotional activity from merchants during the holiday season was especially evident this year, with merchants attracting more online shoppers with email, online coupons, and discounts. To illustrate this, Pulse data for the weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday reflected an average sales growth of 38.3 percent YoY.
Continued decline of Average Ticket Price: Average Ticket Price continues to trend downward with year-to-date overall season results down 7.3 percent driven in part by additional free shipping offers from merchants and continued customer demand for low ticket digital content. These trends plus the combination of the extended shopping season and consumer ability to shop online up until the Saturday before Christmas have ensured most online merchants a strong and successful 2012 season.
