Online shopping in U.S. rises 30% this holiday season, says study

Online shopping in U.S. rises 30% this holiday season, says study

	Published : Sun, 01 Jan 2006 02:05 By : Cedric Benson Print this Story

NEW YORK: Online shopping in the U.S. has risen by 30 per cent this holiday season compared with 2004, according to a study by Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings and Harris Interactive.

The study found that online shoppers spent most on clothing, as much as $5.3 billion, which is 42 more than last year. Computer hardware/peripherals came in second with total online spending reaching $4.8 billion, showing a 126 per cent year-over-year growth. Consumer electronics items came third, also with a spent of $4.8 billion, but up 109 per cent from last year. Book sales reached $3 billion, an increase of 66 per cent, while toys and video games accounted for $2.3 billion, which is a fall of 9 per cent compared with 2004.

Nielsen/NetRatings retail analyst Heather Dougherty said toys and video games suffered because of lack of "must-have toys" this year.

The study also found that online consumers were continuing with their shopping later in the season as their confidence grew and delivery bottlenecks stood removed. It also said the consumers had been using search engines like Google to get to know about gift items and to compare prices.

The survey, conducted during the 29 October-23 December period, had covered some 8,600 consumers.

According to the report, physical stores continued to cater to the majority, accounting for 68 per cent of the 2005 holiday spending, but it is a drop of 10 percentage points from the 2002 holiday season. In contrast, online sales rose 11 percentage points, accounting for 27 per cent of total budgets this year from 16 per cent four years ago.

Meanwhile, the world's biggest online retailer, Amazon.com, said sales on 26 December set a record this year, the main items of demand being iPods, video games and jewellery.

A KPMG study released on Thursday said more than half the consumers reported having made an online purchase during the holiday shopping season. The consultancy said it is interesting to note that online shopping covered all age groups up to 65, with 53 per cent of consumers making online purchases.