Holiday online shopping reaches record $30.8 billion

The online holiday spending reached a record $30.81 billion from November till Christmas marking a 13 per cent increase from last year, according to comScore, a company which follows the digital world.

The week preceding Christmas recorded a $2.45 billion spending up 17 per cent from the corresponding week last year.

Top 10 items of Purchase

Contrary to expectations, it is not jewellery and apparel which top the ten most popular categories on the e-commerce front. Computer hardware in the form of hand held devices like iPads, laptops and e-readers are in the forefront of the fast moving items. This is followed by books then electronic consumers, software and then toys. They all showed an increase in sales ranging from 8 per cent to 23 per cent. Jewellery, accessories and apparel and gaming consoles showed an increase of 8-9 per cent from last year.

Upper-income Americans’ consumer spend ups the score

The increase in online shopping has come from the upper income group in the Christmas season , according to a new Gallup poll.
Upper-income Americans’ self-reported consumer spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online averaged $183 per day during the week ending Dec. 26, 2010. This figure is up about 45% from $126 during the same week in 2009, reports the poll.

“Online holiday spending has remained strong through Christmas and we’ve already seen the season totals easily surpass the levels of the past few years to set a new record for spending at almost $31 billion,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “For at least this holiday season, the American consumer has been able to shrug off the continuing economic challenges of high unemployment rates and depressed housing prices and spend at a rate that has been slightly stronger than we had expected. After the past few years’ struggles, it is gratifying to see e-commerce return to a state that can only be described as a very merry holiday shopping season.”