Apparel tops the shopping list for consumers on Cyber Monday

Clothing and accessories topped the list of products bought by consumers on the first Monday after Thanksgiving—the shopping day known at Cyber Monday—suggest new survey data from Shop.org.  31.4% of surveyed consumers bought apparel and related items on Cyber Monday. In second place came books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games, bought by 27.8% of respondents.

The e-retail arm of the National Retail Federation trade group based its findings on a survey of 2,587 consumers conducted by BIGinsight on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the trade group says survey respondents were polled about their actual spending on Cyber Monday, not their planned purchases.

The survey found that respondents spent an average of $194.46 with e-retailers on Monday, higher than $172.42 average spent online for the entire Thanksgiving weekend. A separate report this week from comScore Inc. found that spending on Monday increased 17.1% compared with last year, to $1.251 billion. That day stands as the most lucrative yet for e-commerce, comScore says.

“There is no question that Cyber Monday has become holiday shoppers’ favorite day to shop online,” says Shop.org executive director Vicki Cantrell. “Despite a strong showing online over the holiday weekend, shoppers held back some of their spending for Cyber Monday deals they knew retailers would deliver. And it was another one for the record books.”

According to the Shop.org survey, 41.3% of respondents shopped online on Monday. The percentage of consumers purchasing in the specific product categories are as follows:

• Clothing and accessories, 31.4%

• Books, CDs, DVDs, videos and video games, 27.8%

• Consumer electronics or computer-related accessories, 25.2%

• Toys, 17.5%

• Personal care or beauty items, 12.3%

• Gift cards, 12.2%

• Home décor and furnishings, 11.3%

• Jewelry, 10.5%

• Sporting goods, 10.1%

• Food and candy, 8.8%

• Flowers and plants, 3.3%

In addition, 15.0% of respondents said they shopped “other” product categories on Cyber Monday.