Holiday Season E-Commerce Up, but Off to a Slow Start

The first 18 days of the holiday season, which began November 1, saw more than $7 billion in online retail spending, a 17 percent increase over the $6.01 billion realized in the corresponding days last year, according to comScore.

ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni explained that despite the online holiday shopping season getting off to a slow start, it has since picked up sharply. By mid-November, sales that had been modestly up in the beginning of the month over the previous year had shot up to levels in excess of 20 percent.

“It is likely that warmer than average weather at the beginning of November kept people outdoors and away from their computers, weighing down early holiday season sales,” said Fulgoni. ”The growth rates during the second and third weeks of November are likely to be better indicators of how the remainder of the season will play out.”

ComScore forecasts that, in the months of November and December, online consumer spending will total approximately $29.5 billion, representing a 20 percent year-over-year increase.