OMEN
12-01-2008, 11:11 PM
The volume of sales at Internet retailers held steady on Friday compared with last year, despite the worsening economic outlook and signs that U.S. consumers are cutting back on spending.
Online sales on Nov. 28, the day after last week's U.S Thanksgiving holiday, also known as "Black Friday," were $534 million, up 1% from last year, according to comScore Inc., which tracks Internet sales. Sales on Nov. 27, were even stronger, up 6% to $288 million, it said.
On the surface, these numbers seem to indicate that consumer spending may be more resilient than many observers had forecast. But total online spending since the start of the holiday shopping season on Nov. 1 is down by 4% to $10.4 billion -- a shortfall of $429 million compared with last year, comScore said.
The company said consumers were likely persuaded to spend by steep discounts offered on Friday by Internet retailers.
Observers are now watching to see what happens today. The first Monday after Thanksgiving, sometimes called "Cyber Monday," is a more important bellwether of online holiday sales than Thanksgiving or Black Friday. This is the first U.S. workday after the holiday, and roughly half of all online purchases made in the U.S. are made during work hours, comScore said.
In previous years, the increase in online sales on Cyber Monday has been within a "few percentage points" of the overall growth rate for holiday spending, it said.
"Cyber Monday may well prove to be an important indicator of whether the decline in spending that we've seen during the first few weeks of the online holiday season will continue for the balance of the year," the market research company said in a statement.
ComScore forecast that holiday spending will be flat this year compared with 2007.
IDG
Online sales on Nov. 28, the day after last week's U.S Thanksgiving holiday, also known as "Black Friday," were $534 million, up 1% from last year, according to comScore Inc., which tracks Internet sales. Sales on Nov. 27, were even stronger, up 6% to $288 million, it said.
On the surface, these numbers seem to indicate that consumer spending may be more resilient than many observers had forecast. But total online spending since the start of the holiday shopping season on Nov. 1 is down by 4% to $10.4 billion -- a shortfall of $429 million compared with last year, comScore said.
The company said consumers were likely persuaded to spend by steep discounts offered on Friday by Internet retailers.
Observers are now watching to see what happens today. The first Monday after Thanksgiving, sometimes called "Cyber Monday," is a more important bellwether of online holiday sales than Thanksgiving or Black Friday. This is the first U.S. workday after the holiday, and roughly half of all online purchases made in the U.S. are made during work hours, comScore said.
In previous years, the increase in online sales on Cyber Monday has been within a "few percentage points" of the overall growth rate for holiday spending, it said.
"Cyber Monday may well prove to be an important indicator of whether the decline in spending that we've seen during the first few weeks of the online holiday season will continue for the balance of the year," the market research company said in a statement.
ComScore forecast that holiday spending will be flat this year compared with 2007.
IDG