Cyber Monday online holiday spending jumps

U.S. Internet retail revenue up 15% on Dec. 1

By Danny King -- Video Business, 12/3/2008

DEC. 3 | U.S. online retail spending for the Monday after Thanksgiving Day, also known as Cyber Monday, jumped 15% from a year earlier, giving retailers hope that more discounts are getting consumers to spend as much as they had in previous years despite the economic downturn.

Consumers spent $846 million online on Dec. 1, up from $733 million a year earlier, ComScore said in a statement today. With the surge, the drop in online holiday spending from a year earlier narrowed to 2% from 4% before Thanksgiving.

Year-to-year increases in Cyber Monday online spending have nearly mirrored that of the entire holiday season, ComScore said earlier this week. Last year, Cyber Monday Internet spending surged 21% from a year earlier; shoppers spent 19% more online during last year’s holiday season than 2006’s holiday season.

"Mark Twain might have said: 'Rumors of the death of online holiday shopping have been greatly exaggerated',” ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in the statement. "Consumers are clearly responding positively to retailers' aggressive online discounts."

Monday's results are consistent with a Nov. 30 National Retail Federation report that said about 85 million people will shop online on Cyber Monday, up 18% from last year. Online retail traffic from Thanksgiving Day through last Sunday rose 17% from a year earlier, NRF said in a separate report.

The Cyber Monday spending surge could be caused by more retailers willing to discount items in order to lure customers to start their holiday shopping. More than half of those surveyed said retailers were offering more discounts and promotions than last year, compared to the 12% who said there were fewer promotions.

ComScore didn’t break out specific retail categories for its Internet sales figures.