Going into the weekend, online sales reach a peak for the year
Online holiday shopping picked up steam last week, with Thursday, Friday and Saturday being the busiest days of the year so far, reports comScore Networks Inc.’s Media Metrix division.
Online retail sales totaled $794 million last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, just ahead of the cut-off dates for most retailers to ensure delivery via ground service by Christmas, Media Metrix reports. The three-day total is up 40% over last year’s $567 million for the same days.
Media Metrix reported $288 million on Dec. 12, up 23% from a year ago; $263 million on Dec. 13, up 36%; and $243 million on Dec. 14, up 73%. All three days far exceeded online shopping the day after Thanksgiving ($151 million) and the Monday after Thanksgiving ($231 million).
“Particularly impressive and somewhat surprising were Saturday`s sales
levels,” Media Metrix reported. “Normally, sales drop substantially from Friday to Saturday, when many online buyers are away from the convenience and speed of their workplace Internet connections. These breaking data suggest that with precious few remaining shopping days in this compressed shopping season, consumers increasingly depend on the web as a time saver across the board.”
ComScore says online shopping will continue later into the season driven by consumers’ growing trust of brands on the Internet, increasing options of store-pick-up, greater valuing of time vs. shipping costs and the growing popularity of online gift certificates.
Since Nov. 1, online shopping has grown 23% from the year-earlier level, reaching $7.1 billion, comScore reports. Online travel sales in that period have grown 55% to $3.6 billion.
Total retail sales this shopping season are a different story, according to the National Retail Sales Estimate from ShopperTrak RCT. Compared to last year, sales from Dec. 1 through Saturday are down 5.4% vs. the same period a year ago. Saturday was a strong shopping day, however, with sales reaching $6.3 billion, second only to the day after Thanksgiving when they reached $7 billion, the National Retail Sales Estimate reports.
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