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More shoppers take online plunge; sales hit
$670 million in record day
By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
Mon Dec 18, 8:08 AM ET
Online retail sales from Nov. 1 through Friday were up 25% over 2005, says Internet market research firm ComScore Networks.
ComScore says last Wednesday was likely the biggest online shopping day of the year and, with nearly $670 million in sales, topped last year's No. 1 day by over $100 million. In fact, sales on 12 days this year have surpassed $600 million.
Last year's single biggest day for Web sales was Dec. 11, when consumers spent $556 million online.
"It's almost like we're seeing a surging as we come down to the deadline day somewhere around (today) when free shipping with guaranteed delivery ends," says ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
"We keep seeing strong growth," says Scott Silverman, executive director of the National Retail Federation (NRF) online division, shop.org. "It's newsworthy when it continues, because each year you're growing off a bigger base."
Retail consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates polled 1,202 consumers between Nov. 25 and Dec. 5 and found most people planned to spend the same amount as in 2005, but 36% were planning to shop more online.
"We're breaking records in online shopping," says Kurt Salmon interactive strategies expert Chad Doiron. "That's the big winner."
Through Dec. 3, ComScore says, the number of online buyers was up 17% over a year ago, and the average amount spent increased 7%. Kurt Peters, editor in chief of Internet Retailer, says the growth is likely coming from more people shopping online as well as from experienced online shoppers increasing how much they spend. Peters says new buyers spend less than experienced buyers.
The good news for online retailers comes with a warning. Because consumers are trying out many different websites, they get frustrated quickly with the less satisfying ones, Peters says. Consumers' rising expectations usually outstrip websites' abilities, he says.
Doiron says online shoppers will put up with slow or hard-to-use websites this time of year. But they won't forgive being told something is in stock when it's not: "That's when you've lost a customer."
Some of the biggest retailers aren't going to let shipping deadlines
steer consumers away from their websites. Starting today, the NRF's cybermonday.com website will be promoting a "buy online, pickup in-store" option for the holidays. Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears and CompUSA are among retailers offering the service.
"Picking up items in a store will be a good option for consumers who don't want to wander around looking for a particular size or color," NRF spokeswoman Ellen Davis says.
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