Online holiday shopping hit $48.3 billion to date, a 15% increase over corresponding days last year, according to comScore, which released data on the first 51 days of the November-December 2014 holiday season.
The most recent week (Dec. 15-21) posted a strong 18-percent growth in online sales, taking in $5.8 billion in desktop spending in what was the last full week before Christmas. The week began with two billion dollar days – Monday, Dec. 15 at $1.07 billion and Tuesday, Dec. 16 at $1.16 billion – while Free Shipping Day (Thursday, Dec. 18) saw $926 million in desktop spending.
The accompanying table shows peaks and valleys in terms of growth rate – desktop spending on Thanksgiving Day was up 32% over last year, while Free Shipping Day was up only 7% compared to last year.
ComScore’s Gian Fulgoni said the performance to-date virtually guarantees ecommerce spending will outperform the company’s pre-season forecast.
