Holiday Ecommerce Sales Rise 5% to $27 Billion

ComScore reported that retail ecommerce spending for the 2009 holiday season rose 5 percent compared to last year. Approximately $27 billion was spent online between November 1 through Christmas Eve. That compares to last year when online holiday sales actually fell by 3 percent compared to the previous year's holiday shopping season.

Colin Sebastian, Digital Media & Internet analyst at Lazard Capital Markets LLC, issued a report on Thursday with holiday shopping data from multiple sources - see accompanying chart for Black Friday sales data (November 27, 2009).

ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said, "Online sales growth this year was driven by a continued increase in the number of people buying online, but consumers' economic challenges resulted in a slight decline versus last year in the amount spent per buyer. The season featured a strong start as a result of early retailer promotions and a very strong finish helped by the snow storms that occurred the weekend of Dec 19 - 20, retailers' willingness to offer free shipping later in the season, and consumers' confidence in expedited shipping arriving in time."

In terms of individual product categories, consumer electronics saw particularly strong sales growth of slightly over 20 percent, while jewelry and watches also turned in a strong performance, following a very weak 2008 season, according to ComScore.