Overstock.com kicks off holiday buying season with 31% growth in traffic

Visits to Overstock.com from Thanksgiving through Sunday were up 31% compared to the same time period last year, the company reported today. The day after Thanksgiving was the largest sales day in Overstock’s history.

"Historically, we have not seen our first big spike in traffic and sales until the first Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This year, that first spike came on Black Friday,” said president Patrick Byrne. “This is a result, I believe, of the growing popularity of online shopping and the strengthening of the Overstock.com brand.”

Apparel and jewelry were the most popular categories and experienced the most significant growth. Overstock also reported that its new Auctions section had more than 140,000 active auctions during the period.

Overstock.com`s socially responsible goods department, Worldstock, had record four-day sales of $250,682.

Byrne also said this is the last time this year that Overstock will report year-over-year sales gains.