Online Retail Spending Soars
I like to see more folks spending more money online, because that means they'll make more contributions online as well. Trust me on this. Online spending is habit forming.
So I'm happy that comScore Networks, a leading online market research outfit, reports that $23 billion was spent on retail websites (excluding auction sites) in the 56 day Christmas shopping season just passed, up 26% from 2005.
Related data from comScore indicates that this surge is driven significantly more by an increase in the number of online purchasers (up 17% from previous year), though average spends are also up 7%.
For the entire year, online shopping has topped $100 billion for the first time, which still accounts for only about 7% of all retail sales. Sounds like the approximate spread between direct mail fundraising (still by far the big daddy) and online giving.
Here, ranked by dollars spent, are the top retail websites, which by their nature indicate just how mainstream online shopping has become.
1. Amazon (deservedly, in this shopper's opinion)
2. Dell (despite months of trashing in the blog world for poor service)
3. Yahoo
4. Wal-Mart
5. Ticketmaster
6. JC Penney
7. Apple (guess which product?!)
8. Best Buy (video games & accessories)
9. Victoria's Secret (I deny even hearing of Tyra Banks)
10. Circuit City (more video games)
Behavioral Science Q & A
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