Consumers spent a record $1.4 billion on merchandise online over the post-Thanksgiving week, up 38% from the same period a year ago, according to comScore Networks Inc. Including travel, consumer spending online reached a record $2 billion, up 34% from a year ago.
“While travel spending was the dominant force pushing e-commerce trends higher in the off-season, non-travel sales have now become the growth engine,” says Michelle David Adams, comScore vice president.
From Nov. 1 to Dec. 6, consumers spent $5.2 billion in online retail sales, up 17% over the same period a year ago. The fastest-growing merchandise category in terms of online sales for the period of Nov. 1 through the week ending Dec. 6 was the home and garden category, up 72% to $328 million over last year; followed by sports and fitness, up 67% to $153 million; and jewelry and watches, up 66% to $121 million.
The increase in jewelry sales is noteworthy because “It indicates that consumers are now more comfortable buying products that were more likely to be reserved for offline stores because of price, style and quality concerns,” says Adams. Adams also noted that the increase in movie and video game title sales – at $81 million for the period, up 38% over a year ago – have benefited from the rise in ownership of DVD players and console systems.
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