RESTON and ARLINGTON, VA.: Online spending by holiday shoppers today is on track to exceed $900 million, up 6 percent from last year according to ComScore. Online spending for the first 27 days of November reached $10.57 billion, up 3 percent from the same period last year. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, generated $595 million in online sales, the second heaviest online spending date of the year and 11 percent up from last year, ComScore said. The estimate for today, dubbed “Cyber Monday,” was derived from trending leading up to it.
“Cyber Monday--the traditional kick-off to the online holiday shopping season--and the subsequent weeks will be the real test for how online retailers fare this season. That said, this is a very encouraging start,” ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said of Black Friday. “The $595 million in online spending this Black Friday represents the second heaviest online spending day of the season-to-date and a double-digit increase from last year. While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.”
Five retail sites had more than 4 million unique visitors on Black Friday, each of them with gains over last year. Amazon sites represented the most visited retail property on Black Friday, up 28 percent from last year, followedby Walmart, which grew 22 percent. Apple siteswere up 39 percent; Target traffic increased 2 percent and Best Buy was up 24 percent.
The Consumer Electronics Association also monitored shopping over the holiday weekend.
“This weekend’s shopping patterns proved consistent with CEA’s earlier predictions of volume growth of six percent this holiday, compared with a significant decline in consumer spending last year,” the CEA said.
CEA chief Gary Shapiro said results from the weekend suggested consumer technology “will lead economic recovery in 2010.”
(Image by J. Pellgan)
