Aggregate holiday catalog and Internet sales are running ahead of 2004 by 12.9 percent, and Internet sales alone are up 17.8 percent, according to a Direct Marketing Association report released yesterday.
The DMA's December 5th 2005 Holiday Shopping Report is based on an online survey of DMA member and non-member companies from Dec. 1 to 5 in which companies were asked to report on their holiday sales.
Marketers report that holiday sales are doing well, “mostly thanks to Internet sales running well ahead of those for 2004,” Anne B. Frankel, the DMA's Strategic Information Unit research manager, said in a statement. The 17.8 percent gain in sales is better than what respondents reported through the beginning of November (14.5 percent) and ahead of what they forecast in September (6.8 percent).
Respondents also indicated that their average Internet holiday sales increased 23.6 percent. Nearly nine of 10 respondents said their Internet sales are up over last year while only 2.3 percent reported a drop.
Respondents' average sales via catalog and Internet combined are 7.5 percent higher than they were in the same period last year, according to the report.
Aggregate catalog sales are up 0.2 percent from last year while average catalog sales decreased 1.7 percent. Catalog sales increased for 37.2 percent of respondents while equal numbers reported that their holiday catalog sales decreased.
Chantal Todé covers catalog and retail news and BTB marketing for DM News and DM News.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
