US online retail spending fell three percent over the holiday season compared with the same period last year, the first decline after eight years of growth, digital research firm comScore reported.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
"The 2008 online holiday shopping season has declined three percent versus a year ago, falling behind our expectation of flat sales this year," comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement late Tuesday.<\/p>\n
"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.<\/p>\n
"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."<\/p>\n
ComScore said e-commerce spending for the October 1 to December 28 period was down four percent compared with last year, the first full quarter to record negative growth since comScore began tracking e-commerce.<\/p>\n
It said 2008 fourth-quarter spending reached $36.8 billion, down from $38.4 billion in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
ComScore said that despite the soft online sales, some top retailers managed to register growth in the holiday period.<\/p>\n
Online auction house eBay was the most visited retail site with 85.4 million unique visitors, down four percent from 88.9 million last year.<\/p>\n
Online retailer Amazon.com saw traffic grow seven percent to 76.2 million visitors, followed by Wal-Mart, up four percent to 51.5 million visitors.<\/p>\n
Target was down one percent with 46.8 million visitors while Apple was up 19% with 35 million visitors.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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