Friday, December 30, 2005
Online Holiday Shopping Posts Huge Gains
byInternet Retailer posted a story today that revealed huge gains for online shopping volume in November of 2005 over the same period a year ago:
Shopzilla.com...up 48% over last year
Walmart.com...up 47%
Overstock.com...up 43%
Target.com...up 39%
Bestbuy.com...up 30%
More retailers are listed in the report. These kind of numbers seem incredible even to those of us who are associated with e-commerce development. It clearly shows that the brick and mortar stores realize the huge potential in the online component of their businesses and they are putting a great deal of effort into creating and refining their Web-based storefronts.
It will be interesting to see the December year-against-year comparison when those figures come out in January to determine if this hot pace continues. Every indication seems to point that it will.
Another story today in the New York Times reported that, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, total online consumer spending for November and December was up 30 percent over the same period in 2004 and purchases totaled $30.1 billion. One out of three households made an online purchase in November and December. Again, based on Nielsen figures, online purchases accounted for 27 percent of all holiday spending.
Figures cited in the above stories definitely signal an accelerating trend to online commerce. Reasons for large increases in Web-based shopping have been attributed to convenience, high gas prices and several other factors. The Times article quoted Donna Hoffman from the Sloan Center for Internet Retailing at Vanderbilt University, “Redesigned, user-friendly sites with more products have removed the final barriers to online purchases.”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this trend out. Right now, on December 30, 2005 its cold where I live. It’s snowing. The streets are slippery. The malls are crowded. My keyboard looks like a great place to order that new fly fishing rod.
