Online shopping continues to break records
Online spending continues to soar in the rush before Christmas, according to comScore.
On Tuesday December 15 consumers spent as much as $913 million online, which is the first day to hit more than the $900 million threshold.
For the holiday season to date, which includes the 48-day period in November and December, shoppers have spent more than $24.8 billion online, a 4% increase on the same period last year.
Gian Fulgoni, comScore’s chairman, said: “Going into this most recent week, we had anticipated that Monday or Tuesday would post the highest online spending total of the season and perhaps be the first day on record to surpass $900 million.
“Despite a disappointing start to the week, with sales on Monday of $854 million down 1 percent versus 2008, we were encouraged to see spending continue strongly throughout the balance of the work week, led by Tuesday’s record $913 million. In fact, each day through Thursday December 17 – the last day that many online retailers would guarantee free shipping in time for Christmas – saw at least $800 million in spending, which suggests that savvy consumers may have been waiting for those last-minute deals.”
comScore’s report found that free shipping remains the key driver for online shopping, with at least 45% of all purchases including free shipping each week, which is far higher than 2008.
The average order value for online transactions peaked at $117 during the week ending November 29 and December 6, which is also higher than last year.
At the start of December, comScore reported that of the top 5 online retailers as ranked by average weekly visits across the month of November, Play.com Sites experienced the largest growth with a 62% gain, closely followed by the Home retail group, owner of Argos and Homebase (up 61%) and Tesco Stores (up 50%).