US online holiday sales jump 15 percent
US online holiday shopping increased by 15 percent this year.
Holiday shopping online sales in the United States shot up by 15 percent this season compared to last year, the Associated Press reported.
According to a report by research firm comScore, Saturday concluded the busiest week of the season, with shoppers spending $30.9 billion online from Nov. 1 through Dec. 16. The same period last year raked in $26.9 billion. Online sales surpassed $1 billion on four days last week, bring the week’s total sales to $6.31 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Read more at GlobalPost: Is Christmas bad for the economy?
The five days that ended on Friday “will almost certainly be the heaviest week of the online holiday shopping season,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, the AP reported. Since the holiday season started, free-shipping promotions online applied to at least half of all transactions, WSJ reported.
As the season closes in on Dec. 25, spending will begin to slow, according to comScore. If this remains true, Cyber Monday, Nov. 28, will likely be the top online spending day with $1.25 billion, followed by $1.13 billion on Dec. 12 and $1.07 billion on Dec. 16, Bloomberg reported.
Cyber Monday remains the top holiday spending day for the second year in a row, with sales rising 22 percent from last year. The American holiday shopping season can boost retailers’ annual revenue 40 percent.
Read more at GlobalPost: US consumer confidence jumps in November