Online retail spending rises 59%

Online retail spending rose 59% year-over-year for the week ended Oct. 19, to $1.1 billion from $688 million, comScore Networks Inc.’s Media Metrix division reports. That reflects a continuing rise in October’s weekly rates of increase and more than triples the 16% year-over-year increase reached in the prior week.

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By comparison, total retail spending for the week ended Oct. 18 grew less than 1%, or 0.6% year-over-year, reflecting the softest year-over-year performance since April 26, reports ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate. It adds that consumer spending was especially week on Columbus Day, Oct. 13. "Since weather patterns shifted some of the seasonal demand forward over the last month, it seems that the slower pace of spending in October is a brief pause and not a turning point as some have speculated," said Michael Niemira, lead consultant for ShopperTrak.

Online travel spending rose 11% for the week ended Oct. 19, to $722 million from $653 million, comScore reports.