ComScore released their first set of holiday shopping stats back on November 23rd which indicated a 24% growth to that point. Was it that people were starting their shopping earlier? Apparently not.
The predicted % growth over last year holds steady at 24% in the non-travel related sectors with a 59% increase in sports and fitness. Broken down by sector the percentage increases are as follows:
- Sports & Fitness – 59% increase
- Furniture, Appliances & Equipment – 50% increase
- Apparel & Accessories – 37% increase
- Home & Garden – 36% increase
- Video Games, Consoles & Accessories – 30% increase
- Total Non-Travel Sales – 24%
This reflects a significant change in consumer behaviour as more-and-more people are becoming secure with their online shopping habits. The reason for this will be discussed further below. For now, those of you interested in reading ComScore’s full report can do so in PDF format here.
Which leads many to the question as to why more people are comfortable shopping online. Taking out the human factor of time (i.e. we have less of it) there is also the awareness of what consumers can now do online with their credit cards regarding servicing their accounts. ComScore, in a separate report, also revealed that there was a 28% increase in the online servicing of credit card accounts. This means that people are finding information easily on their accounts and can even dispute charges online. The more informed we are on a subject the more comfortable we are with it and thus, the more information we have and can access online regarding our credit cards, the more we seem to use them. You can view the details of this report on the ComScore website at http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=663.
Very good information for anyone who sells products and/or services online.