RESTON, VA – Online spending over the most recent weekend – Dec. 20-21 – total $677 million, nearly twice as high as the weekend nearest Christmas last year, reports comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world.
Holiday season spending online for the first 51 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season have totaled $24.71 billion, down 1 percent versus the corresponding shopping days last year.
“Because of the way the shopping days fall this year with five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is no perfect adjusted-day comparison to make at this point in the season,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
“However, online spending over the most recent weekend was clearly substantially heavier than the corresponding weekend nearest Christmas last year, which suggests that many consumers opted for the cozier confines of online shopping rather than having to brave the severe cold and snowstorms affecting much of the northern half of the country. It’s also clear that this year’s compressed shopping season has resulted in some consumers buying online later than they did a year ago. A positive late-season boost for online retail perhaps, but it’s ultimately not going to do much to make up for the significantly shorter shopping season this year.”
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