Nine Consecutive Billion-Dollar Days of Online Desktop Spending Mark the Longest Streak Ever
The dust is finally beginning to settle after a busy last couple of weeks for retailers. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now in the rearview mirror, allowing us to temporarily hit cruise control in the week ahead of Green Monday and reflect on how the busiest shopping period of the year has performed up to this point. Through the first 36 days of the November-December 2015 holiday season, Comscore is reporting U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers to have reached $35.4 billion, marking a 6-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. While the desktop season-to-date growth rate currently trails Comscore’s 9 percent growth forecast, the benefit of an extra shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas vs. last year in addition to a more favorable calendar overall, provides confidence of being able to make up that ground before the end of the season.
Cyber Week, the week beginning with Cyber Monday, posted solid growth online, raking in $9.7 billion in desktop spending for an increase of 7 percent compared to the same week last year. This marked the fourth time ever, and the first time this season, that boasted the accomplishment of having five billion-dollar days during the work week, totaling $7.8 billion during that period. These five days continued an even longer stretch beginning on Thanksgiving of nine consecutive billion-dollar desktop spending days, rounding out the longest streak of days reaching that milestone in history. Also noteworthy is that sales growth has picked up since Thanksgiving, with online spending on desktop up 7 percent year-over-year, compared to an increase of 5 percent for the period of November prior to Thanksgiving.
2015 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2014 | |||
| Millions ($) | ||
2014 | 2015 | Percent Change | |
Nov. 1–Dec. 6 (vs. Nov. 2-Dec. 7, 2014) | $33,378 | $35,363 | 6% |
Pre-Thanksgiving (Nov. 1-25 vs. Nov. 2-26, 2014) | $19,726 | $20,698 | 5% |
Thanksgiving thru Cyber Week | $13,653 | $14,665 | 7% |
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) | $1,009 | $1,096 | 9% |
Black Friday (Nov. 27) | $1,505 | $1,656 | 10% |
Holiday Weekend (Nov. 28-29) | $2,012 | $2,169 | 8% |
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30) | $2,038 | $2,280 | 12% |
Thanksgiving thru Cyber Monday | $6,564 | $7,201 | 10% |
Cyber Week (Nov. 30-Dec. 6) | $9,126 | $9,745 | 7% |
Cyber Week Mon-Fri (Nov. 30-Dec. 4) | $7,287 | $7,815 | 7% |
Cyber Weekend (Dec. 5-6) | $1,840 | $1,929 | 5% |
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 7, 2014)
“Online holiday commerce continues to perform very well through Cyber Week, and the holiday season remains on pace to reach our original forecast of 9 percent annual growth on desktop and 14 percent growth overall,” said Comscore chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni. “Thanksgiving kicked off the heavy online spending period with nine consecutive days surpassing the $1 billion milestone on desktop. While the current week is experiencing a predictable mid-season lull in growth rates, we believe that next week – which is bookended with Green Monday and Free Shipping Day – should see a flurry of late-season activity online that will help make up a lot of ground for the season.”
For retailers interested in accessing daily and weekly holiday data on shopping and buying behavior, and to see how your performance stacks up against the competition, please talk to your Comscore representative about the Comscore Holiday Tracker® or contact us today.