Holiday shoppers spent in record numbers on U.S.-based Visa cards this year, topping $7.6 billion, nearly half again as much as last year’s holiday shopping season, Visa reports.
With its cardholders spending nearly $8 billion online with for the shopping period between Nov. 28 and Dec. 28 – a rise of 48.9% over the same period last year – Visa recorded its highest-ever 4-week total in online purchases, Visa said.
Visa attributed some of the rise in online spending to East Coast winter storms that disrupted shopping in stores on key shopping weekends this year.
By contrast, Visa said total retail spending on U.S. Visa cards for the same period rose 10.3% year-over-year, to more than $43.2 billion.
MasterCard, which didn’t break out online spending on its cards, said combined holiday season Internet and catalog spending on its cards rose 6.5% year-over-year, compared to a rise of 6.45% in overall holiday retail spending.
In comparison, it noted that spending on its cards rose 1.65% in retail apparel stores, 3.9% in home furnishings stores and 6.7% in consumer electronics and appliances stores; and that spending on its cards decreased 0.04% in jewelry stores, 1.4% in department stores and 7.7% in toy stores.
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