Consumers Shopping (Online) Earlier for Christmas
By George Anderson
While retail stores get ready for the Black Friday traffic jam, online stores are already seeing a spike in holiday shopping traffic according to separate research from Nielsen//NetRatings and ComScore/Media Metrix.
Nielsen//NetRatings reports that online shopping activity jumped 12 percent for the week ending November 3. Toys and consumer electronics were among the most popular product categories.
ComScore/Media Metrix said online revenues grew eight percent (excludes travel purchases) with toy sales increasing 66 percent.
Lisa Strand, director and senior analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings told E-Commerce Times, “We usually don’t see a jump in activity until after Halloween, but this year it started before that day. The fact that so much of the growth was in toys and electronics suggests this is holiday shoppers either buying or simply researching their purchases.”
She added, “Because there are more shoppers already, we’re probably less likely to see as much of a marked increase around the last few weeks.”
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Moderator’s Comment: Has the Internet fundamentally changed how consumers
shop for the holidays? [George
Anderson – Moderator]