It’s going to be a really good holiday for some folks. Call it Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Cyber Week or a big pain in the… Well, whatever you call it, retailers are calling it a success as the last week netted $6 billion in sales – 3 individual days hit over $1 billion individually.
comscore released their report of holiday digital spending in the last 30 days. Overall, $18.7 billion has been spent online – a 15% increase on Cyber Monday from last year.
| 2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc. |
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| Millions ($) | |||
| 2010 | 2011 | Percent Change | |
| November 1 – December 2 | $16,257 | $18,697 | 15% |
| Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24) | $407 | $479 | 18% |
| Black Friday (Nov. 25) | $648 | $816 | 26% |
| Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 26-27) | $886 | $1,031 | 16% |
| Cyber Monday (Nov. 28) | $1,028 | $1,251 | 22% |
| Week Ending Dec. 2 | $5,164 | $5,959 | 15% |
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 3, 2010)
The big promotion was free shipping. More than half the transactions included shipping (63.2% during Cyber Week).
“Free shipping is one of the most important incentives that online retailers must provide during the holiday season to ensure that shoppers will convert into buyers,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Consumers have come to expect free shipping during the holiday promotion periods, and retailers, in turn, have realized that they must offer this incentive if they want to maximize their share of consumer spending – especially at the outset of the shopping season. In fact, more than three-quarters of consumers say that free shipping is important to them when making an online purchase, and nearly half say they will abandon their shopping cart at checkout if they find free shipping is not being offered.”
Comscore also polled people (1,000 internet users) to ask the value of shipping. 36% said it was very important, while 42% said it’s somewhat important and 12% was neutral.
Overall, people are feeling more comfortable shopping online. With a $6 billion dollar weekend and $1.25 billion Cyber Monday, it will be interesting to see what happens next year for CyberWeek.