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Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
2007's biggest online shopping day
After analysis of previous years' holiday sales figures, eCommerce solutions provider Volusion Inc., predicts that the biggest shopping day of the year will break the typical pattern seen in most years this decade.
From 2000 to 2005, the biggest online spending day of the year fell on a Monday. Shoppers tend to spend time browsing in stores on the weekends and then buy gifts online when they return to work, where they usually have the fastest internet connections. This pattern held true in 2006 as well when on Monday, 11 December, consumers spent US$556 million online. This was ostensibly the biggest online shopping day in history; until Wednesday, 13 December, when consumers spent a whopping US$667 million.
Volusion's forecastings report the biggest online spending day will be Wednesday, 12 December 2007. The Monday halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas has been biggest spending day of the year every year this decade with the sole exception of 2006. Like 2006, this Monday falls on a very early date in 2007 - 10 December, to be exact.
Merchants will be pushing their free and discounted shipping promotions that won't end until the 17th or 18th, and consumers will respond to these later promotions by waiting to purchase on Tuesday and Wednesday instead of Monday - as was the case last year.
With more people online than ever, the company anticipates that ecommerce retail sales will break records this holiday season, and expect sales to exceed $750 million on 12 December 2007.
Source: eMediaWire.com
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