Consumer Online Spending Grows In Third Quarter

Actual orders grew by 47% to 101 million in the three months to end-September. The average purchase amount was down 15% to $123 compared to $145 in the same period last year but BizRate claims that this is because shoppers are now more inclined to search for the best bargains.

“Consumers are becoming increasingly deal hungry and are leaning on comparison shopping sites to satiates that hunger,” said Chuck Davis, president and chief executive of BizRate.com. “As a result, this holiday quarter we expect to see more shoppers being very price and free-shipping sensitive.”

Online sales increased every month in the third quarter peaking at $4.26 billion in September. According to last month’s figures, 62% of online buyers were female and the top categories in terms of sales volume were computer hardware ($3.09 billion), electronics ($1.97 billion), apparel ($1.28 billion) and entertainment ($1.24 billion).

BizRate calculates that in the year to date online sales are up 24% at $37.16 billion. The company is forecasting revenues of $18.35 billion in the crucial fourth quarter, a 22% increase on last year’s figure of $15.04 billion.