Online shopping sets record
Published: 30 Dec 2003 10:00 GMT
Holiday online spending, excluding travel, reached a record $15.8bn (£8.92bn) from 1 November through 19 December, according to the most recent "eSpending" survey by Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen/NetRatings, released on Monday.
That is up 37 percent from the same period last year and already surpasses total 2002 online spending of $13bn between 1 November and 25 December.
"This has definitely been a strong online-shopping season," said Abha Bhagat, senior analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings.
Bhagat attributed the impressive showing to consumers starting their online shopping earlier and spending more online, taking advantage of discounts and promotions by e-tailers.
Online shopping peaked the second week in December, as the holiday shipping season came to an end. Consumers spent $2.8bn online for the week of 13 to 19 December, down slightly from the $2.95bn spent online the previous week.
The most popular categories this season were apparel, $3.1bn spent through 19 December, up 40 percent over 2002; toys and video games, $1.9bn spent, up 21 percent; videos and DVDs, $1.4bn spent, up 58 percent; books, $1.4bn spent, up 39 percent; and music, $790m spent, up 20 percent.
Bhagat said those are the same as last year's most popular categories.
The eSpending reports are based on weekly national surveys of 800 to 1,700 online shoppers. The final report covering holiday online spending through Christmas Day will be released 6 January.
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