« No Kidding? What A Revelation! | Main | Walmart Has Shaky Holiday Season »
On-Line Sales Surge This Holiday Season.
National Jeweler reports that Online sales for the 2005 holiday season surged 25 percent, reaching $18.11 billion, according to new data from comScore Networks.
This year's holiday sales spike for online, non-travel spending from Nov. 1 through Dec. 25 eclipsed the $14.5 billion seen in holiday sales during the same period of 2004, according to comScore, which tracks online consumer behavior.
"We're seeing another terrific holiday season for online spending," comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a release issued Thursday. "The growth of 25 percent we're now seeing, versus a year ago, is slightly ahead of our initial forecast of 24 percent growth, reflecting the aggressive price discounting offered by online merchants late in the season and cnsumers' increased confidence in expedited shipping."
Apparel and accessories was the second most-popular product category by dollar sales for online holiday sales this year, as well as being the second-fastest growing product category. According to comScore's report, the apparel and accessories category saw $3 billion in online sales this year, marking a 37 percent increase over last year.
The other two most popular product categories for online holiday sales were computer hardware and consumer electronics. The sports and fitness category saw the greatest sales growth this season over last year, according to comScore, rising 49 percent over 2004.
According to comScore, the five retail Web sites which saw the greatest number of total visits during the holiday season (Nov. 1-Dec. 25) were, in descending order: eBay, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Apple Computer, Inc. and Target. As with last year, the weeks of Dec. 11 and Dec. 18 saw the greatest dollar amount of holiday online retail sales, with more than $3 million spent during each of those weeks.
