Holiday E-Commerce Season Sales Finally Match Last Year as Two Workdays this Past Week Each Surpass $800 Million in Online Spending
Sales Since Cyber Monday Up 9 Percent Versus Year Ago
RESTON, VA – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season through December 5, $14.92 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year. For the five days beginning with December 1 (Cyber Monday), the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season, sales totaled $3.74 billion, up 9 percent versus year ago. Two individual days in the past week achieved more than $800 million in online spending: Monday, December 1 (“Cyber Monday”) with $846 million, and Tuesday, December 2 with $823 million.
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2008 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Holiday Season to Date Millions ($)
2007 2008 Pct Change
November 1 – December 5 $14,903 $14,922 0%
Dec .1 (Cyber Monday) – Dec. 5 $3,419 $3,743 9%
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*Corresponding days based on equivalent shopping days relative to Thanksgiving (October 27 – November 30, 2007)
“The online holiday shopping season has picked up noticeably since Thanksgiving as consumers have given in to the holiday spirit – and very attractive retailer discounts,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Particularly encouraging is the growth of 9 percent in online sales that has occurred since Cyber Monday. While this growth is certainly a positive development in this tough retail season, it also needs to be put into perspective. With the compressed time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year – five days shorter than last year – we need to see continued strong growth during the critical weeks between today and Christmas if this year’s shopping season is to at least match that of last year.”
Top Performing Retail Categories Since Cyber Monday
The fastest growing product categories during the period from December 1 through December 5 were Sport & Fitness (up 35 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 24 percent), which saw sales surge as a result of significant price reductions on many items, including flat panel TVs. Apparel & Accessories, the second largest retail category in terms of dollar sales (after Computer Hardware) during this period, also experienced strong gains (up 16 percent). The softest retail categories include Music, Movies & Videos (down 24 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (down 22 percent).
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Growth in Retail E-Commerce Categories by Dollar Sales Since Cyber Monday
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Dec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Retail Category Y/Y Percent Change in Category Sales ($)
Sport & Fitness 35%
Consumer Electronics 24%
Apparel & Accessories 16%
Toys 16%
Books & Magazines 10%
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories 9%
Computer Hardware 2%
Home, Garden & Furniture 0%
Flowers, Greetings & Gifts -8%
Jewelry & Watches -22%
Music, Movies & Videos -24%
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Visitors to Top Retailer Sites Since Cyber Monday
During the five-day period since Cyber Monday, traffic to the retail site category is up 2 percent versus year ago, with many sites drawing a substantial number of visitors. eBay topped the list with 36 million unique visitors, while three of the top ten retailer sites saw gains versus year ago: Amazon Sites (up 10 percent), Wal-Mart (up 7 percent), and Apple Inc. (up 29 percent).
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Visitor Growth at Top Retailer Sites
Dec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Unique Visitors (000)
2007 2008 Percent Change
Retail Site Category 118,393 121,271 2%
eBay 40,180 36,631 -9%
Amazon Sites 26,859 29,505 10%
Wal-Mart 18,183 19,514 7%
Target Corporation 16,273 15,905 -2%
Apple Inc. 9,290 11,943 29%
Best Buy Sites 9,350 8,561 -8%
JCPenney Sites 6,657 6,435 -3%
Overstock.com 6,930 5,874 -15%
Toysrus Sites 6,434 5,969 -7%
Dell 6,740 5,611 -17%
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comScore’s Summary of 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period
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Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
Millions ($)
2007 2008 Pct Change
January – October $93,551 $102,144 9%
comScore Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) $29,169 $29,200** 0%**
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)* $273 $288 6%
November 28 (Black Friday)* $531 $534 1%
December 1 (Cyber Monday)* $733 $846 15%
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* Versus Corresponding Shopping Day in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving
**Forecast
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/boilerplate.
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