Early online holiday shopping drops

U.S. Internet retail revenue for holidays will be even with 2007

By Danny King -- Video Business, 11/25/2008

NOV. 25 | U.S. online retail spending during the first three weeks of the holiday season fell 4% from a year earlier as consumers either cut back on gift spending or waited for bargains as a way to cope with the economic downturn.

Consumers spent $8.19 billion online on retail goods, excluding travel, for the 23 days ended Nov. 23, down from $8.51 billion a year earlier, ComScore said in a report today. Online retail spending, which surged 19% for the 2007 holiday season and is up 9% for the first 10 months of this year, will total $29.2 billion for November and December, equal to a year earlier, ComScore said.

“Despite the recent reprieve that plummeting gas prices have given American consumers, the depressed and volatile stock market, declining housing prices, inflation and the weak job market all represent dark clouds hanging over their heads this holiday shopping season,” ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement.

ComScore’s findings are consistent with other survey-based reports released this week saying that consumers will either wait longer to start their holiday shopping in order to find better deals or cut back on certain categories altogether. Many shoppers who had earlier considered buying large flat-screen TVs or high-end digital cameras are now unlikely to do so, NPD Group said yesterday, while the National Retail Federation said today that the number of people who will shop on the Friday and the weekend following Thanksgiving will drop almost 5% from last year. ABI Research said today that 87% of those surveyed will spend the same or less during the holidays than they spent a year ago, with just 8% of those polled saying they planned to buy a Blu-ray player.

Last month, NPD said the economic downturn will have less of a negative effect on holiday sales of DVDs and videogames than other items because they’re less expensive than other categories such as clothes and electronics items. Videogames also jumped in popularity among desired holiday gifts for girls, NRF said last week.

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

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