Shoppers up spending 24% on Internet in Nov

Online sales for retailers rose 24% to $6.96 billion this month as shoppers got an early start on their holiday purchases.
Consumers spent the most money on Tuesday Nov. 22, when revenue jumped 55% to $441 million, research firm ComScore Networks said. ComScore measured sales from Nov. 1 to Nov. 25.

Apple's new video iPods and the ultra-slim Nano were among the hotter sellers. Apple's retail partners were wiped clean of the newer items, although shoppers could still get them in Apple stores and on Apple's Web site, J.P. Morgan analyst Bill Shope said.

As of yesterday, the iPod Video was the most popular electronics item on ConsumerClub.com, a comparison-shopping Web site.

More consumers are making their purchases at work rather than at home, with Internet connections at offices accounting for 58% of all online spending the week of Nov. 14-18.

Holiday sales over the Internet are rising as retailers offer free shipping and discounts and as consumers grow more comfortable buying over the Web.

Consumers spent about $380 million last year on "Black Monday" or "Cyber Monday," their first day back in the office after the Thanksgiving weekend, ComScore said.

Consumers who have spent the weekend in stores may make purchases at work during their lunch hour, said Patti Freeman Evans, an analyst with Jupiter Research in New York.

ComScore estimates overall online shopping this year will climb 24% to $19.6 billion.

The number of consumers visiting online retailers jumped 29% on Black Friday from a year earlier, New York-based Nielsen said last Saturday.


Bloomberg News


Originally published on November 29, 2005

Shopping Online is for real and many offline malls are moving fast to design their website malls to capture the online market as well.

There is no turning back, online shopping is here to stay!