Here's a little statistical cheer for online retailers bracing themselves for what many have been predicting will be a dismal holiday sales season.
The latest online retail spending report released by ComScore Tuesday shows that consumers last weekend spent almost double what they spent on the corresponding weekend before Christmas last year. U.S. consumers online spent US$677 million last weekend, Dec. 20 and 21, compared to US$341 million the weekend before Christmas in 2007, which was Dec. 22 and 23.
It should be noted, however, that there are five fewer days this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, making it harder to make perfect year-to-year comparisons. For example, the US$677 million in sales last weekend--which was also the fourth weekend after Thanksgiving--is actually down 17 percent from last year's corresponding fourth weekend after Thanksgiving, Dec. 15 and 16.
Whether you see the glass half full or half empty, the data suggest "that many consumers opted for the cozier confines of online shopping rather than having to brave the severe cold and snowstorms affecting much of the northern half of the country," said ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. He added that the compressed shopping season probably resulted in some consumers buying online later than they did last year.
Regardless, the report is further evidence that holiday sales aren't a total disaster and might even be holding their own, which is no small feat in the throws of a recession. U.S. online spending to date this holiday season (from Nov. 1 to Dec. 21) totals US$24.71 billion, down 1 percent from the corresponding timeframe last year.
This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.com.
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