US holiday e-commerce down

US online retail spending fell 3% over the holiday season compared with the same period last year, the first decline after eight years of growth, digital research firm comScore reported.

US e-commerce retail spending totaled $25.5 billion during the November 1 to December 23 period, down from $26.3 billion in the corresponding period of 2007, comScore said.

"The 2008 online holiday shopping season has declined 3% versus a year ago, falling behind our expectation of flat sales this year," comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement late Tuesday.

"This marks the first time we've seen negative growth rates for the holiday season since we began tracking e-commerce in 2001," he said.

"The combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the severe economic headwinds faced by consumers has made this a really tough season for retailers, both offline and online."

ComScore said e-commerce spending for the October 1 to December 28 period was down 4% compared with last year, the first full quarter to record negative growth since comScore began tracking e-commerce.

Some still register growth

It said 2008 fourth-quarter spending reached $36.8 billion, down from $38.4 billion in the same period last year.

ComScore said that despite the soft online sales, some top retailers managed to register growth in the holiday period.

Online auction house eBay was the most visited retail site with 85.4 million unique visitors, down 4% from 88.9 million last year.

Online retailer Amazon.com saw traffic grow 7% to 76.2 million visitors, followed by Wal-Mart, up 4% to 51.5 million visitors.

Target was down 1% with 46.8 million visitors while Apple was up 19% with 35 million visitors.

The holiday season is seen as make-or-break for many retailers and key to the struggling US economy, which relies on consumer spending for 70% of activity.

Source: AFP

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