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Online holiday bright Online retailers appear to have been the big winners
this past holiday season. Sales figures vary somewhat, but all sources
agree that online sales increased dramatically in 2003 and that e-commerce
saw its best holiday season to date, in terms of both sales and profits. Winter storms on the East Coast disrupted several key
shopping weekends this season, likely keeping some shoppers at home and
helping online sales. According to ComScore Networks, e-commerce sales reached
$11.72 billion from Nov. 1 to Dec. 26, a 29-percent jump from $9.08 billion
in the same period in 2002. ComScore’s figures exclude travel and
auctions but include sales of gift cards and gift certificates, which
are usually not included in traditional retailers’ sales figures. The eSpending Report from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Harris
Interactive®, and Nielsen/NetRatings concluded online holiday shoppers
spent $18.5 billion online excluding travel during the 2003 holiday season—an
increase of 35 percent over the $13.7 billion spent in 2002. According to the eSpending Report, apparel, toys/video
games (hardware and software), consumer electronics, computer hardware
and peripherals and video/DVD generated the most revenue this season.
Online shoppers spent $3.8 billion on apparel this season,
a 40-percent increase from 2002. Toys and video games (hardware and software)
drew $2.2 billion, jumping 33 percent from the previous year, and video/DVD
had a strong season, with shoppers spending $1.6 billion, up 46 percent. Consumer electronics reached $2 billion in online sales
in 2003, a rise of 2 percent year over year. Computer hardware/peripherals
saw total revenues of $1.7 billion in 2003. Visa USA reported similarly positive results for e-commerce
this holiday season. Visa, which says its credit and debit cards are used
in about half of all Internet transactions, said nontravel online retail
sales from Nov. 17 to Dec. 25 increased 45 percent year over year to $4.9
billion. Anecdotal evidence supports the claims of a record-breaking season. Amazon.com said it had the most active holiday season yet, seeing 630,000 visitors to its U.S. site in a single hour, or more than 10,000 visitors per minute. |