RESTON, VA ? comScore predicts eCommerce Holiday sales this season will grow up to 26 percent from the year before, putting B2B spending on track to top $15 billion in November and December alone.
comScore also expects that total quarterly non-travel spending will cross the $20 billion threshold for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2004.
“We believe consumers’ growing familiarity and confidence with online shopping, coupled with a dramatic increase in broadband penetration and continuing efforts by retailers to simplify the shopping process across channels, will translate to substantial gains for online merchants again this year,” said Dan Hess, senior vice president of comScore Networks. “While forecasted growth will be slightly lower this season than last, online retailers will still close the year up about 25 percent compared to 2003 – an impressive accomplishment given mixed signals of consumer confidence and a soft economy in general.”
What will be hot this Holiday season for online shoppers? Jewelry & Watches, Furniture, Appliances & Equipment and Home & Garden products, indicating a continued shift to online buying in categories that were traditionally only bought offline, Hess said.
“Aside from the growth in direct online spending, we’ll also continue to see the substantial impact on offline retail sales of consumers’ use of the Internet to research products and compare prices.”
