Brick-and-mortar retailers are not the only ones reaping the profits of the holiday rush. Online shoppers have also come out in droves, breaking online sales records.
The American economy is on the rebound, if shopping spending – both “on the line” and online – in the last quarter of last year were to be considered. Steep discounts and long holiday weekend (after Thanksgiving) helped set record sales on Black Friday last year. Pundits feared that the holiday spending momentum will not be sustained until Christmas, but they were proved wrong. On the week ending December 25, shoppers shelled out $2.8 billion on holiday gifts and goods, topping last year’s number by 16%.
A survey by the National Retail Federation revealed that Americans spent a total of $52.4 billion over the four-day weekend following Thanksgiving, compared to $45 billion last year. The sales figures were propelled to record-breaking heights by shoppers who thronged the stores and hogged the connection bandwidth. From 212 million shoppers last year, the number of customers went up to 226 million. Per capita spending also saw a slight raise, from $365.34 in 2010 to $398.62.
Getting to a store during holiday could be quite challenging, as online shoppers have come to realize. Their affinity for convenience and no-hassle holiday shopping has in fact helped drive online sales through the roof.
According to IBM, which keeps tabs on 500 retailers in apparel, health, beauty and home goods categories, online sales enjoyed a 39.3% increase on Thanksgiving Day and 24.3% increase on Black Friday compared to the same days last year. Online retailers like Ghillie Suit Superstore(http://www.ghilliesuitsuperstore.com), which sells camouflage Ghillie Suit for hunters, have enjoyed a 30% increase in online sales on Black Friday compared to last year.
Online spending was heaviest on “Cyber Monday,” with sales totals of $1.25 billion. Holiday shopping rush does not only happen in stores, apparently, as $9 billion were spent online on “Green Monday” (Dec. 12) and “Free Shipping Day” (Dec. 16), among other days just before Christmas. It is on December 16 that online shoppers can still put their orders through and receive the package on Christmas Eve. This was a busy day for online retailers, as consumers spent $1.072 billion online on this day alone, a 14% increase from what consumers spent ($942 million) last year.
As customers come out in droves to snatch irresistible discounts while supplies last, shopping could become a tedious task. Buying gifts this way still retains a modicum of appeal, but there is no denying that online shopping is going to gain bigger ground. After all, there is no legwork involved.
