Music, videos pull down Q3 etailing growth

Online videogame sales surge, electronics flat

By Danny King -- Video Business, 11/6/2008

NOV. 6 | E-commerce growth rates slowed in the third quarter from earlier in the year as a surge in videogame sales over the Internet couldn't offset slumping categories such as music, movie and video purchases, ComScore reported late last week.

Third-quarter videogame sales purchased on the Web surged 60% from a year earlier, making it the fastest-growing retail category. The Internet surge exceeded the strong growth rate of year-to-date combined offline and online videogame sales, which jumped 26% to $11.82 billion, according to NPD Group.

Still, a sales drop in e-commerce category of music, movies and videos—excluding digital downloads—helped slow overall Internet retailing growth in the third quarter to 6% from 12% in the first quarter and 13% in the second quarter and dropped September's growth rate to 5%, ComScore said. Etailing sales growth for most of last year was well into the 20% range.

"Consumers' economic pressures continue to have a significant impact on retail spending, which is evident in the slowing growth rates in the online channel," ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement last week.

E-commerce growth by category