Despite Weak Season Apple, Amazon, Wal-Mart and Sears Post Traffic Increases
RESTON, VA, December 30, 2008 – Comscore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the holiday shopping season, beginning November 1 and ending December 23, the last day to purchase online with the possibility of delivery by Christmas Eve. Online spending reached $25.5 billion during that period, down 3 percent versus the corresponding shopping days in 2007.
2008 Holiday Season vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007Non-Travel (Retail) SpendingExcludes Auctions and Large Corporate PurchasesTotal U.S. – Home/Work/University LocationsSource: Comscore, Inc.
Holiday Season
Millions ($)
2007
2008
Pct Change
November 1 – December 23
$26,332
$25,537
-3%
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (Oct. 27 – Dec. 18, 2007)
“The 2008 online holiday shopping season has declined 3 percent versus year ago, falling behind our expectation of flat sales this year,” said Comscore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “This marks the first time we’ve seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since we began tracking e-commerce in 2001. The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has made this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online.”
Q4 E-Commerce Spending to Date
The growth rate for Q4 2008 to date compared to the same period a year ago will end up looking marginally worse than the holiday season results. For the period of October 1 – December 28 compared to the same calendar days in 2008, e-commerce spending is down 4 percent to 36.8 billion. The fourth quarter of 2008 will also mark the first full quarter to record a negative growth rate since Comscore began tracking e-commerce.
Fourth Quarter-to-Date E-Commerce SpendingNon-Travel (Retail) SpendingExcludes Auctions and Large Corporate PurchasesTotal U.S. – Home/Work/University LocationsSource: Comscore, Inc.
Q4-to-Date
October 1 – December 28
$38,376
$36,803
-4%
Apple and Amazon among Top Traffic Gainers in December
Despite soft online sales this holiday season, consumers continued to shop online for the best deals. In the period of December 1-24 vs. the corresponding shopping days last year, several top retailers achieved growth in visitation to their sites. eBay remained the most visited retail site with 85.4 million visitors but saw a slight decline of 4 percent in visitors, while three of the top five most visited sites recorded gains. Amazon Sites grew 7 percent to 76.2 million visitors, followed by Wal-Mart (up 4 percent to 51.5 million visitors), Target (down 1 percent to 46.8 million visitors) and Apple Inc. (up 19 percent to 35 million visitors).
Traffic Growth to Top Retailer SitesDec. 1 – Dec. 24, 2008 vs. Corresponding Days* in 2007Total U.S. – Home/Work/University LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Unique Visitors (000)
Percent Change
Total Internet
171,113
179,997
5%
eBay
88,894
85,442
Amazon Sites
70,975
76,240
7%
Wal-Mart
49,632
51,546
4%
Target Corporation
47,338
46,837
-1%
Apple Inc.
29,450
35,017
19%
Best Buy Sites
28,602
28,555
0%
JCPenney Sites
21,329
18,918
-11%
Toysrus Sites
19,817
18,075
-9%
Sears.com
18,010
18,413
2%
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
19,466
15,456
-21%
Overstock.com
18,911
15,951
-16%
AmericanGreetings Property
17,273
14,666
-15%
Hewlett Packard
15,217
19,425
28%
Dell
17,279
14,305
-17%
Macy's Inc.
15,715
15,868
1%
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (Oct. 27 – Dec. 19, 2007)
Comscore’s Summary of 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period
Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer SpendingExcludes Auctions and Large Corporate PurchasesTotal U.S. – Home/Work/University LocationsSource: Comscore, Inc.
January – October
$93,551
$102,144
9%
November 1 – December 23*
November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)*
$273
$288
6%
November 28 (Black Friday)*
$531
$534
December 1 (Cyber Monday)*
$733
$846
15%
Heaviest Online Shopping Day
$881
(Dec. 10)
$887
(Dec. 9)
* Versus Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving
About ComscoreComscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
PressBill DaddiDaddi Brand Communications646-370-1341press@comscore.com