• by Wayne Friedman , December 26, 2018

TV commercials by online retailers were sharply higher in the month before Christmas -- in terms of national and regional airings -- versus a year ago, when traditional department stores posted smaller gains.

Some 59,984 airings of TV commercials for online marketers and auction sites ran from November 25 through December 25, according to iSpot.tv, a 25% increasing over a year ago, where some 48,134 commercials aired.

This year’s total media spend for that month-long period comes to $106.6 million, versus $96.6 million in 2017.

This year, Amazon commanded a leading 22.4% share of those airings, followed by Poshmark with 18.6%; eBay at 8.2%; Wayfair with 6.9%; and Ebates at 6.3%.

By contrast, traditional department store chains ran almost double the level of TV messages -- 102,804 TV commercial airings -- a 12% hike over the 91,712 TV spots in 2017. Estimated media value comes to $314.5 million vs. $311.9 million TV spend in 2017.

Walmart ran 19.1% of those TV commercials, with Kohl’s at 18.5%; Target at 13.9%; JCPenney with 12.6%; and Macy’s at 11%.

Home-improvement retail marketers aired 25,417 TV commercials during the month (media spend of $57.4 million). Ace Hardware with 35% of airings, Lowe’s at 30.5%; and Home Depot with 22.1% at were the big spenders.

Outdoor and sporting goods retailers posted 22,426 TV commercials ($33.3 million in media spend). Electronics/Appliance retailers: 9,181 airings ($27.3 million).