Online Holiday Sales Top $6 Billion This Year
- by January 2, 2001
Online shoppers spent more than $6 billion this holiday season, according to BizRate.com, the most popular comparison-shopping marketplace on the Web, with more than 52 million orders placed online between Nov. 20, 2000, and Dec. 26, 2000.
That figure represents a 60% increase from the comparative period last year, when total holiday sales for the Web reached $3.75 billion and online orders neared 38 million (for the period spanning Nov. 22 through Dec. 26, 1999).
"Last year, the story was how consumers were stung by e-tailers' poor planning. This year, consumers are the winners because e-tailers sat up, listened and met expectations," said Chuck Davis, president and CEO of BizRate.com.
"What is important this year is that e-tailers were able to deliver on their promises-including on-time shipment and customer support. As a result, many businesses were rewarded with repeat customers as satisfied shoppers returned later in the season for additional gift purchases."
In fact, the holiday peak sales day arrived five days later this season, when merchants rung up a record-breaking $254 million in sales on Monday, Dec. 18.
On-time delivery, which ranked last in BizRate.com's audit of customer satisfaction in 1999, leapt to third place this year. In fact, more than eight out of 10 purchases, or 88% of online orders, were delivered on time (for the period of Nov. 20 through Dec. 15, 2000). This was a significant increase from last season, when 74% of purchases were delivered on time.
"The Internet is often criticized for lack of customer support," remarked Davis. "On the contrary, consumers are telling BizRate.com that e-tailers are doing a much better job this year in providing quality service." Customer support saw the second-largest improvement in customer satisfaction, just behind on-time delivery.
Retail categories experiencing the highest level of growth in sales compared with holiday 1999 included Home and Garden (+277.1%), Toys (+158.5%) and Food and Wine (+77.%). Entertainment goods (including compact discs, videos and DVDs) remained the retail leader in popularity among Web shoppers, representing a quarter of all online transactions (excluding services such as travel) for the holiday season.
For the first time, women made up the majority of holiday shoppers at 56% (compared with 50% in 1999) and are now positioned to become the power behind online shopping, BizRate.com says.
"Considering the several macroeconomic factors hampering the overall retail sector, this was a good holiday season for online retail," added Davis. "A growth of 60% is a tremendous benchmark for any industry and is an important indicator that online shopping is here to stay."
