Online spending trends outperform brick-and-mortar
February 22, 2009 by Admin
comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, have released online spending data by category for the online holiday shopping season, which showed that trends in online spending outperformed offline in several key product categories. The study compared comScore e-commerce data to overall (online and offline) consumer spending data published by MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse Unit for the period of Nov. 1 – Dec. 24 vs. year ago.
SpendingPulse is an information service provided by MasterCard Advisors, a subsidiary of MasterCard Worldwide. A macro-economic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail and service sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check.
According to comScore, the top growing online product category for the season was Sport & Fitness, which grew 18 percent versus year ago. The category continues to benefit from consumers’ focus on health and fitness and consumers feeling more comfortable purchasing higher-priced fitness equipment, such as treadmills and elliptical machines, online. The second fastest-growing category was Video Games, Consoles & Accessories, which grew 14 percent on continued demand for popular consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Apparel & Accessories, the only other product category with positive online growth, generated higher sales as a result of retailers’ aggressive discounting and promotions, and helped by unfavorable weather across much of the country.
Top Online Product Categories for 2008 Holiday Season Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Dec. 1-24, 2008 vs. Nov. 26 – Dec. 19, 2007
| Product Category | Y/Y change |
|---|---|
| Sport & Fitness | 18% |
| Video Games & Accessories | 14% |
| Apparel & Accessories | 4% |
| Books & Magazines | -1% |
| Consumer Electronics | -5% |
