Cyber Monday 2012 could be biggest online shopping day ever
An office worker looks at Cyber Monday specials on the Costo website.
Online spending cracked the $1-billion mark this Black Friday, the first time American consumers have ever spent that much using their computers, tablets or smartphones the day after Thanksgiving.
According to figures released today from tracking group ComScore, online sales increased 22 percent from last year’s $816-million, Reuters reported.
Americans still only spend about 10 percent of their money online, but the rate is growing faster than dollars spent at physical locations, according to Reuters.
“Online has been around 9 percent of total holiday sales, but it could breach 10 percent for the first time this season,” online sales analyst Scot Wingo of ChannelAdvisor told Reuters.
By comparison, ShopperTrak told the news agency that it expects Black Friday sales in physical locations to drop about 2 percent this year to $11.2 billion.
When it accounts for all holiday spending, ComScore says figures could rise 17 percent to $43.4 billion this year; they increased 15 percent from 2010 to 2011, Reuters reported.
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The retail industry predicted a 4.1 percent increase in overall holiday spending, according to Reuters, with online shopping fueling most of the jump.
And it’s still not finished.
ComScore told The Associated Press that Cyber Monday 2012 could be the busiest online shopping day ever.
The research group expects Americans to spend $1.5 billion online on Monday compared to the $1.25 billion last year.
However, Cyber Monday’s domination might soon fade.
Americans are more connected than ever, and don’t require work computers to search for online deals like the past.
“People years ago didn’t have the kind of connectivity to shop online at their homes. So when they went back to work after Thanksgiving they’d shop on the Monday after," Shop.org’s Vicki Cantrell told the AP.
“Now they don’t need the work computer to be able to do that.”
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