Consumers look set to continue their fixation with online shopping, with figures for the first three weeks in January indicating that non-travel spend is up by one-third, compared to the same time last year.
According to new figures from comScore Networks, online non-travel spending from January 1st to 20th 2006 reached $5.5 billion, representing a 33% increase over the $4.1 billion seen in January 2005.
comScore revealed that online travel spend generated an additional $3.5 billion during the same time, up by 8% year on year.
The strong performance enjoyed at the start of this year comes on the back of a year of solid gains in online customer spend, with comScore revealing online spend for all of 2005, including travel, reached $143.2 billion, up by 22% over 2004.
Commenting on the findings, Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Networks said: “It’s clear based on what we’re seeing so far in 2006 that the strength in online sales will not wane any time soon.”
Looking at sales in selected product categories reveals that Event Tickets was one of the fastest growing sectors in January, increasing by 50% over last year’s figures to $193.3 million.
Consumer Electronics sales also enjoyed a strong performance, with sales for the first three weeks of January rising 43% above corresponding days last year to $271.5 million. Elsewhere, sales in the Sports & Fitness category were also up, hitting $72.6 million online.
Online shopping enjoyed a strong performance over this year’s Christmas season, with the Goldman Sachs, Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive Holiday eSpending Report showing that US online spend reached $30.1 billion, up by 30% year on year (see US E-Commerce Passes $30 Million For 2005 Holiday Season).
E-commerce in the UK saw similar growth over the ten week run-up to Christmas 2006, with shoppers spending £5 billion online, compared with £3.33 billion during the same period in 2004 (see UK Online Shopping Up By 50% Over Christmas).
According to online competitive intelligence monitor, Hitwise, visits to retail websites were up significantly in the week after Christmas, seeing a rise of 16% year on year for the week ending 31st December 2005.
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