December 26, 2002

ComScore: Online Holiday Shopping $1.9B Last Week

Online holiday shopping hit $1.9 billion the week ending Dec. 20, a 19 percent increase over the week before Christmas last year, according to online audience measurement company comScore Networks.

Spending on non-travel related goods and services was $1.4 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared to a year ago, and online spending on travel was $474 million, an increase of 21 percent, the Reston, VA, company said in a report released Tuesday.

This is down from the previous week ending Dec 13, during which consumers spent an all-time high of $2.2 billion online, up 37 percent from the second week after Thanksgiving last year, according to comScore.

Online sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 20 were $12.6 billion, up 29 percent compared to the same period last year, according to comScore. Non-travel sales were up 23 percent over a year ago to $8.5 billion, and online travel sales increased 51 percent to $4.1 billion, according to comScore.

Computer hardware was the biggest selling category from Nov. 1 through Dec. 20 with sales of $1.6 billion. However, this is a decrease of 1 percent from a year ago, comScore reported.

Apparel and accessories was the second biggest selling category with sales of $1.5 billion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 20, an increase of 31 percent over last year.

Consumer electronics was the third biggest selling category, with sales of $1 billion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 20, up 21 percent over last year.

Nos. 4 through 10 respectively were:

· Office supplies: $576 million;

· Home and Garden: $555 million;

· Books: $397 million;

· Toys: $396 million;

· Event tickets: $250 million;

· Sport and Fitness: $233 million;

· Jewelry and watches: $216 million.

The fastest growing online shopping category this year was home and garden supplies, which saw an increase of 78 percent over last year. The second fastest growing category was furniture and appliances with sales of $171 million, an increase of 75 percent over last year.

Categories Nos. 3 through 10 in terms of growth respectively were:

· Toys: $396 million, up 61 percent;

· Sport and fitness: $233 million, up 54 percent;

· Jewelry and watches: $216 million, up 45 percent;

· Movies and video: $205 million, up 36 percent;

· Apparel and Accessories: $1.5 billion, up 31 percent;

· Video games: $130 million, up 24 percent;

· Consumer electronics, $1 billion, up 21 percent;

· Event tickets: $250 million, up 16 percent.

To reach its conclusions, comScore says it monitors the behavior of a volunteer panel of 1.5 million Internet users and extrapolates.