comScore reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 37 days of the November - December 2008 holiday season. In addition, Compete, Inc. provides a additional perspective of the shopping traffic. For the holiday season through December 7, $15.63 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year, says comScore. During the first week since Cyber Monday (December 1 - December 7), sales totaled $4.45 billion, up 7 percent versus year ago. 2008 Holiday Season Retail SpendingTo Date vs. Corresponding Days in 2007Total U.S. Home/Work/University LocationsHoliday Season to DateMillions ($) 2007 2008 Pct Change November 1 - December 7 $15,624 $15,628 0% December 1 - 7 $4,140 $4,449 7% Source: comScore, Inc, December 2008.?? comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, said "... The compressed shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year means that there is now a greater sense of urgency in order to get all of one's shopping completed in time... " An analysis of referral activity reveals that 33.4 percent of all online sales in 2008 were driven by referral activity, up slightly from 32.8 percent in 2007. While search remains the dominant referral activity, accounting for 55 percent of referred dollar sales during the season-to-date, it is down slightly from 57 percent last year. Meanwhile, e-mail has accounted for 16 percent of referred dollars, up 5 percentage points from last year, reflecting retailers' heavier use of e-mail marketing programs this season. Source of Referred E-Commerce Retail Dollars Dec. 1 - Dec. 7, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Total U.SHome/Work/University LocationsReferral Tactice-Commerce Sales by Source of Referral 20072008 Search 56.7% 54.5% e-mail 11.0% 16.1% Comparison Shopping 2.5% 4.7% Coupons 1.1% 1.8% Other Categories 28.7% 22.9% Source: comScore, Inc., December 2008 The fastest growing product categories during the period from December 1 through December 5 were Sport & Fitness and Consumer Electronics (which saw sales surge as a result of significant price reductions on many items, including flat panel TVs.) Apparel & Accessories, the second largest retail category in terms of dollar sales (after Computer Hardware) during this period, also experienced strong gains. The softest retail categories include Music, Movies & Videos, and Jewelry & Watches. Growth in Retail E-Commerce Retail Spending Categories by Dollar SalesDec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Total U.S. Home/Work/University LocationsRetail CategoryY/Y Percent Change in Category Sales ($) Sport & Fitness 35% Consumer Electronics 24% Apparel & Accessories 16% Toys 16% Books & Magazines 10% Video Games, Consoles & Accessories 9% Computer Hardware 2% Home, Garden & Furniture 0% Flowers, Greetings & Gifts -8% Jewelry & Watches -22% Music, Movies & Videos -24% Source: comScore, Inc, December 2008 During the five-day period since Cyber Monday, traffic to the retail site category is up 2 percent versus year ago, with many sites drawing a substantial number of visitors. eBay topped the list, while three of the top ten retailer sites saw gains versus year ago. Visitor Growth at Top Retailer SitesDec. 1- Dec. 5, 2008 vs. Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Total U.S. Home/Work/University Locations Unique Visitors (000) 20072008Percent ChangeTotal Retail Site Category 118,393 121,271 2% eBay 40,180 36,631 -9% Amazon Sites 26,859 29,505 10% Wal-Mart 18,183 19,514 7% Target Corporation 16,273 15,905 -2% Apple Inc. 9,290 11,943 29% Best Buy Sites 9,350 8,561 -8% JCPenney Sites 6,657 6,435 -3% Overstock.com 6,930 5,874 -15% Toysrus Sites 6,434 5,969 -7% Dell 6,740 5,611 -17%? Source: comScore, Inc., December 2008 2008 Holiday Online Retail Spending by Key Time Period Online Retail Holiday Consumer Spending Total U.S. Home/Work/University Locations Versus Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007 Relative to Thanksgiving Millions ($) 20072008Pct Change January - October $93,551 $102,144 9% comScore Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) $29,169 $29,200 0% November 27 (Thanksgiving Day) $273 $288 6% November 28 (Black Friday) $531 $534 1% December 1 (Cyber Monday) $733 $846 15% Source: comScore, Inc., December 2008 And, retail visitors as seen from a different perspective from Compete Data, Holiday Retail Shopping. Online traffic surveyed during Thanksgiving Weekend through Cyber Monday. The Compete study notes that despite the slowdown in offline traffic, consumers continue to flock to the Web for their holiday shopping with department stores as the greatest beneficiaries of this trend. ,Traffic to department store Web sites rose an impressive 14% on Cyber Monday this year compared to last. Additionally, says the report, once consumers went online, they tended to look for major deals and were shopping with the purpose of finding the best online discounts. Of the top 100 retailer sites, 47% of Cyber Monday traffic came from a coupon Web site in 2007, and in 2008, 62% came from a coupon site, a 23.1% increase Y/Y. In general for Cyber Monday, the number of purchases was up 26% Y/Y, with coupon sites providing 62% of the traffic to the top 100 Retailers and 53% to the major department stores - an increase of 23 and 14%, respectively. Retail Web Site Visitors 2008 vs Corresponding Shopping Days in 2007Unique Visitors 2007 2008% changeTotal for Week to Top 100 Retail 106,537,835 109,974,572 3.1% to Dept. Stores 55,865,042 60,976,095 8.4% to Coupon Sites 27,934,489 28,038,219 0.4% % Top 100 - Coupon 20% 21% 1.3% % Dept. Stores - Coupon 27% 28% 0.8% Time Spent at Top 100 Retail (min) 38.17 40.38 5.5% Cyber Monday to Top 100 Retail 7,676,918 7,690,510 0.2% to Dept. Stores 4,798,623 5,596,172 14.3% to Coupon Sites 2,889,894 3,030,100 4.6% % Top 100 - Coupon 47% 62% 23.1% % Dept. Stores - Coupon 45% 53% 14.2% 22.2% Time Spent at Top 100 Retail (min) 10.5% Source: Compete, December 2008 To view the complete comScore release, please visit here.