The holiday is off to a strong start for online merchants with sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday up 29 percent and 22 percent respectively versus last year, according to comScore. Online sales for November leading up to Thanksgiving have risen 17 percent, the research firm reports.
"Online spending on Black Friday has historically represented an early indicator of how the rest of the season will shake out. That the 22 percent growth rate versus last year is outpacing the overall growth rate for the first three weeks of the season should be seen as a sign of positive momentum," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore in a press release.
"Based on the growth rates we've seen so far this season and historical consumer behavior patterns, we would expect Cyber Monday sales to be even stronger than Black Friday's and to exceed $700 million. While this would make it the heaviest online shopping day on record, we can expect to see even stronger days ahead as the 2007 shopping season progresses into December," Mr. Fulgoni added.
According to comScore, a number of product categories have taken sales to a new level this year. Since November 1, for example, video game consoles and related products have posted a 134 percent sales increase versus the same period last year. Furniture, appliances and equipment (36 percent), consumer electronics (21 percent), sports and fitness (20 percent) and apparel and accessories (17 percent) are all doing well as the holiday season heats up.
Discussion Questions: Do you see Black Friday performance as a indicator as to how well online will perform this holiday season? Do you see Cyber Monday as having some special significance as far as how well online will perform over the course of the holiday season? What are best-in-class retailers doing to succeed online during this critical sales period?