• by Masha Geller , October 10, 2002

comScore confirmed this week what we’ve known for a while: that the at-work online audience, which is responsible for more than half of consumer online purchasing, is becoming increasingly important.

comScore data reveal that the workplace has become the predominant location for online purchasing among consumers (59% of consumer online spending takes place at work). And those figures are likely to keep increasing. Last week alone, comScore says, total consumer online sales were $1.4 billion, up 46% versus the same week last year. Non-travel sales took in $810 million, up 41% from the same week last year, while travel sales took in $613 million, up 53%.

Notable merchandise categories posting growth this week versus the same week last year include Computer Hardware, up 113%; Flowers and Gifts, up 98%; and Home and Garden, up 82%.

And, as the holiday season heats up, an estimated $19.6 billion in projected online consumer spending for the holiday season is at stake (up 23% from the same period in 2001), according to a Yahoo!/ACNielsen survey.

Where’s an advertiser to turn? comScore suggests news and information sites. In August 2002, 67% of Internet users at work in the U.S. visited news and information sites, going mostly to cable sites, portals, newspapers and weather. Not surprisingly, more than half (59%) of total time spent at news and information sites occurs among the online networks of only four site networks (CNN.com, The Weather Channel, New York Times Digital and Yahoo! News).