Online sales of jewelry, watches down 17 percent

For the first 49 days of the 2008 November-December holiday season, online spending decreased 1 percent to $24.03 billion; however, online sales for the period from Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday) to Dec. 19, increased 1 percent to $12.85 billion.

Reston, Va.--The most recent week of the holiday season saw several strong online spending days, but for the season in total, online sales are down 1 percent compared with last year, according to the latest research from ComScore.

For the first 49 days of the 2008 November-December holiday season (Nov. 1-Dec. 19), online spending decreased 1 percent to $24.03 billion, compared with $24.15 billion last year.

However, online sales for the period from Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday) to Dec. 19, increased 1 percent from $12.67 billion in 2007 to $12.85 billion in 2008. Top sales days include Tuesday, Dec. 9, with $887 million in online sales, Monday, Dec. 15, with $859 million, Monday, Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday), with $846 million, Tuesday, Dec. 2, with $823 million and Wednesday, Dec. 10, with $803 million.

"With five fewer days of holiday shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, there is increasing pressure on consumers to make their holiday purchases in time for Christmas," ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a media release. "As a result, we've seen online shoppers continue to spend heavily even later into the season, with the most recent week including four of the top 10 spending days of the season. Despite this positive development, the combination of the compressed holiday schedule and the challenging economic situation faced by many consumers means that retailers have their work cut out for them this season."
 
This year's holiday season, from Thanksgiving through Dec. 19, has seen average online spending per day of $643 million, 5 percent higher than last year. However, the core holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year is actually 16 percent shorter than last year, which underscores one of the key challenges facing retailers this season: an inability to increase daily sales at a rate sufficient to compensate for fewer shopping days.

The fastest-growing online product categories during the period from Dec. 1-19 were sport and fitness (up 31 percent), books and magazines (up 18 percent) and video games, consoles and accessories (up 17 percent).

Apparel and accessories, the second largest online retail category by dollar sales, has seen sales increase strongly (up 15 percent) as a result of retailers' aggressive discounting and unseasonably cold weather across many parts of the country.

Following a strong Cyber Monday week that was driven by large discounts on products such as flat screen TVs, consumer electronics sales have slowed significantly.

The softest online retail categories include music, movies and videos (down 24 percent), office supplies (down 19 percent), jewelry and watches (down 17 percent) and home, garden and furniture (down 16 percent).

ComScore measures the digital world and is a preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information about the compay, visit its Web site, Comscore.com/CompanyInfo.