| 2010 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2009 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total US - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Holiday Season to Date | Billions ($) | ||
| 2009 | 2010 | Percent Change | |
| 1-21 November | $7.95 | $9.01 | 13% |
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (2-22 November 2009)
"The beginning of the online holiday shopping season has gotten off to an extremely positive start, outperforming our earlier expectations," said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. "Despite continued high unemployment rates and other economic concerns, consumers seem to be more willing to open up their wallets this holiday season than last. While this early spending surge reflects, in part, heavy promotional activity on the part of retailers occurring earlier this season, it is nevertheless a very encouraging sign."
The official comScore 2010 holiday season forecast is that online retail spending for the November - December period will reach US$32.4 billion (about R226,8 billion) representing an 11% gain versus year ago. This strong growth rate represents an improvement compared to last season's 4% increase.
| Online Non-Travel (Retail) Holiday Consumer Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total US - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Billions ($) | |||
| 2009 | 2010 | Pct Change | |
| January - October Actual | $100.7 | $109.9 | 9% |
| Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) | $29.1* | $32.4** | 11%** |
* Actual **Forecast
"After a year in which we already saw growth rates return to solid positive territory, the recent strength in holiday spending has led us to raise our official forecast to 11% from the 7 to 9% we were initially expecting," added Fulgoni. "We are seeing online spending surpass the totals we saw in 2007 prior to the recession and expect sales this holiday season to be the highest on record with more than US$32 billion (about R224 billion) being spent during the November and December period."
Alongside its reporting of behaviourally monitored e-commerce spending, comScore is also conducting weekly surveys of approximately 500 consumers to determine attitudes and sentiment in regard to the holiday shopping season. In the most recent survey, conducted on 11-15 November 2010, consumers indicated that they believe retailers' promotional activity for the early part of the season has increased in relation to last year. Specifically, 36% of respondents indicated that they are seeing more discounts, sales and promotions vs. last year compared to just 11% who said there were fewer.
One of the more prominent promotions for online purchases is free shipping. When asked how important free shipping is for making an online purchase this holiday season, more than three-quarters (77%) of consumers indicated it was important. Recent comScore behavioural data indicated that 41% of retail e-commerce purchases in Q3 2010 included free shipping.
| US Consumer Outlook on Holiday Shopping Deals and Promotions November 11-15, 2010 | |
|---|---|
| Total US Source: comScore 2010 Holiday Shopping Survey | |
| Percent of Respondents | |
| Q: Compared to last year, how would you rate the number of discounts, sales, or promotions that are currently available? | |
| More discounts, sales, or promotions | 36 % |
| About the same | 40 % |
| Fewer discounts, sales, or promotions | 11 % |
| Not sure | 13 % |
| Q: When making a purchase online this holiday season, which of the following statements best describes how important free shipping is to you? | |
| Very important - I won't make a purchase without it | 33% |
| Somewhat important - I actively seek out free shipping deals | 44% |
| Neither important nor unimportant - I'd like to find it, but it's not necessary | 12% |
| Somewhat unimportant - Free shipping has very little effect | 2% |
| Very unimportant - I'll make my purchase regardless of shipping offers | 1% |
| Don't know/not sure | 8% |
