Forget about Cyber Monday; December 6th easily topped the online sales of the Monday after Thanksgiving, as US consumers spent $803 million on the first Thursday in December.
Online Holiday Spending Tops $18 Billion
Non-travel retail spending online for the period of November 1 through December 7 rose 18 percent compared to the same period in 2006.
Analysis firm comScore also noted that spending on December 6th made it the heaviest online spending day ever.
“It was a terrific kick-start to December, but we expect the upcoming week to be the heaviest online spending week of the holiday season as the procrastinators and late-season deal-seekers come out in earnest,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni.
Those coming out late may follow the example set by searchers through the month of November.
In tech product searches for the month, consumers showed the most interest in the hard to find Nintendo Wii.
Interest in Apple’s iPod media players and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console followed the Wii. Sony’s PlayStation 2 drew more searches than the newer PlayStation 3, which comScore attributed to bargain hunting by consumers.
“While iPods and iPhones are predictably popular, we’re also seeing that consumers are actively searching for information on GPS products,” said Fulgoni. “This is a category that can be expected to grow strongly during the next few years.”
Shipper DHL said they expect a 25 percent hike in their average daily volume compared to the first three quarters of 2007.
It also means putting Santa to work on the forklift. Meeting that demand will require increasing DHL’s daily U.S. truck routes by 25 percent.
The Jolly Old Elf might be a much leaner Santa by the time Christmas Eve arrives.
