comScore Reports Record Online Retail Spending This Holiday Season
For the holiday season to date, U.S. shoppers spent $33.8 billion online, representing a 13 percent increase compared to the same days last year. The most recent work week logged four individual days with more than $1 billion in spending.
"This past workweek saw four days surpass the billion dollar spending threshold during the heaviest five-day online shopping period on record," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "With this most recent week in the books, the peak spending period may now be in our rear-view-mirror – but the online holiday shopping season is not over yet. We should have one more headline day on Free Shipping Day this Monday the 17th as the procrastinators among us scramble to order gifts in time for Christmas next week. For the season-to-date, the growth rate based on corresponding days last year is 13 percent. But, with two extra shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, we still expect that the full season will realize a growth rate well north of 13 percent."
It's pretty remarkable when you think about the amount of dollars being spent online, especially during a down economy. To wit, 11 individual days surpassed $1 billion in online sales during the holiday shopping season to date, and that number's likely to grow before it's over with.
The trend of spending big bucks online isn't seasonal, either. Leading up to the holiday shopping season, comScore previously reported that U.S. consumers spent a whopping $41.9 billion online in the Q3, representing a 15 bump from the same period one year prior.
Did you do a lot of shopping online this year?