For the 56 day period ending on December 26, holiday e-commerce sales reached $23.11 billion, a 26% jump from last year’s $18.28 billion figure. This is according to information released by comScore Networks.
Sales grew particularly briskly during the week before Christmas (December 18 – 22), rising 38% to $2.25 billion from last year’s $1.63 billion.
Chairman of comScore Networks Gian Fulgoni said, “Consumers making purchases in those final days expressed both their faith in retailers’ ability to pick and pack their orders in a timely fashion and shippers’ ability to drop them on recipients’ doorsteps in time for Christmas.”
Fulgoni also commented on the year-to-date non-travel e-commerce spending figure passing the $100 billion mark for the first time ever on Saturday, December 23, 2006 by saying that it “is a testament to the continued growth and strength of the online marketplace. Retail e-commerce now accounts for approximately 7 percent of consumers’ U.S. retail spending (excluding gas, autos and food), making it an important component of the total U.S. economy.”
With regards to the top retail online sites for the two months ending on December 26, Amazon.com grabbed the top spot, followed by Dell.com, Yahoo.com, Walmart.com, and Ticketmaster.com.
JCPenney.com, Apple.com, Bestbuy.com, Victoriassecret.com, and Circuitcity.com rounded out the top 10.
Bestbuy.com, Walmart.com, and Ticketmaster.com gained the most, realizing sales increases of more than 50%.
Jewelry and Watches saw a 67% boost in dollar growth for the November 1 to December 26 period compared to the same span of time last year. Video games grew 64%, video game consoles and accessories grew 63%, and Event Tickets grew 55%.
January 1 to October 31 realized a 24% increase in online consumer spending compared to 2005.
Sources:
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1162
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction
=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=53120
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