comScore reveals that online spending for the first 42 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season reached $26.8bn, a 15%increase versus the same period last year.
In the week ending Dec. 11, it reached a record $6.1bn, up 15% year over year. December 12, known as ‘Green Monday’ saw $1.13 billion in online spending, an increase of 19% versus last year, and the third heaviest spending day of the season after Cyber Monday ($1.25 billion) and Monday, December 5 ($1.17 billion), says the research firm.
comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said Green Monday was another exceptional day for the online holiday shopping season, posting more than $1.1 billion in sales with a growth rate of 19% versus last year.
"Green Monday also kicks off what should be the heaviest week of the year for online shopping, where we could see several billion dollar spending days, punctuated by Free Shipping Day on Friday, December 16. It is interesting to note that for the past three years, Cyber Monday sales have exceeded those on Green Monday." Fulgoni added.
For the holiday season-to-date, digital content & subscriptions ranked as the fastest growing online retail category with a growth rate more than double that of the online sector as a whole.
Jewellery & watches made a strong comeback as the second fastest growing category this season. Consumer Electronics ranked third, followed by video games and computer software.
All of the top 10 gaining categories are growing at least the rate of total retail e-commerce growth, comScore noted.
