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More customers chose to point and click rather than park and swipe this Christmas season, with a five percent increase in online shopping over the same period last year, a study by the Internet marketing firm comScore says. By comparison, in-store retail shopping grew only 3.6 percent, according to credit-card spending tracked by Mastercard Advisor’s’ Spending Pulse.<\/p>\n
\n“Overall this year, we have seen increasing stability in spending, as opposed to the free fall of 2008,” noted Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for SpendingPulse.<\/p>\n
\nCyber Monday A Success<\/p>\n
\nCyber Monday, the day after the Thanksgiving weekend when online retailers usually offer their best deals and, often, free shipping, raked in $885 million, up five percent from last year’s $834 million.<\/p>\n
\nA significant share of the online boost was in electronics sales, which grew by slightly more than 20 percent, with jewelry and watches also producing solid sales. Overall, an estimated $27 billion was spent online.<\/p>\n
\nSteve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association, attributed the sales boost to better marketing and promotion by retailers.<\/p>\n
\n“Sellers are trying different things other than just the usual loss-leader approach,” Koenig said. “They have used a number of market plays old and new to coax consumers to open their wallets, and the data we have so far suggests they have been successful.”<\/p>\n
\nOne such successful tactic, Koenig said, is bundling, or selling multiple, related products at one price. For example, he said Best Buy offered a Hewlett-Packard PC, monitor, notebook and netbook, plus a wireless router with home installation for about $1,200.<\/p>\n
\nBut he said while unit sales climbed this year, the revenue generated fell because of the abundance of lower-priced items.<\/p>\n
\n“There were fewer large-screen TVs, but more midsize models in the 20- to 30-inch range sold,” he said. “I also think there is some trading down… <\/p>\n
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