Holiday e-commerce sales up 17%, as growth slows after Thanksgiving surge
After spending heavily on Thanksgiving and the four days that followed, consumers pulled back at the end of last week, leaving the holiday e-commerce season up 17% over last year, the same growth as recorded in the first three weeks of November, according to web measurement firm comScore Inc. Overall, from Nov. 1-Dec. 2, consumers spent more than $14 billion online, comScore says.
The single biggest shopping day of the holiday season was the Monday after Thanksgiving, when shoppers made $733 million in online purchases, up 20.6% from last year’s Monday following Thanksgiving, which comScore and others have dubbed Cyber Monday.
“This most recent week started strong as consumers spent $733 million on Cyber Monday, which was followed by three consecutive days where spending surpassed $700 million,” says comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “However, strong sales subsided towards the end of the week, eventually resulting in a 17% gain versus the corresponding time period last year—in line with the growth rates we’ve experienced for the season-to-date.”
For January through October, U.S. e-commerce sales totaled $93.6 billion, up nearly 21% from $77.5 billion through the first 10 months of 2006. ComScore projects November-December spending will grow 20% year over year to $29.5 billion.
Video games, consoles and accessories was the fastest-growing online sales category during the Nov. 1-Dec. 2 period, 145% above last year. Here are the 10 fastest-growing product categories for online sales during the holiday season so far, with the percentage growth over last year:
- Video Games, Consoles & Accessories, 145%
- Furniture, Appliances & Equipment, 45%
- Sports & Fitness, 30%
- Toys, 17%
- Consumer Electronics, 17%
- Books & Magazines, 17%
- Apparel & Accessories, 16%
- Computer Hardware, 15%
- Music, Movies & Videos, 14%
- Home & Garden, 14%
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