ComScore reported that holiday retail e-commerce through Dec. 5 reached $14.92 billion, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year. For the five days beginning with Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday), the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season, sales totaled $3.74 billion, up 9% 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 online holiday shopping season has picked up noticeably since Thanksgiving as consumers have given in to the holiday spirit and very attractive retailer discounts,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Particularly encouraging is the growth of 9% 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 years shopping season is to at least match that of last year.”
Top Performing Retail Categories Since Cyber Monday
The fastest growing product categories during the period from Dec. 1 through Dec. 5 were Sport & Fitness (up 35% ) and Consumer Electronics (up 24% ), which saw sales surge as a result of significant price reductions on many items, including flat panel TVs. Apparel & Accessories, the second largest retail category in terms of dollar sales (after Computer Hardware) during this period, also experienced strong gains (up 16% ). The softest retail categories include Music, Movies & Videos (down 24% ) and Jewelry & Watches (down 22% ).
Visitors to Top Retailer Sites Since Cyber Monday
During the five-day period since Cyber Monday, traffic to the retail site category was up 2% versus year ago, with many sites drawing a substantial number of visitors. eBay topped the list with 36 million unique visitors, while three of the top ten retailer sites saw gains versus year ago: Amazon Sites (up 10% ), Wal-Mart (up 7% ), and Apple Inc. (up 29% ).
