comScore shows an early surge in holiday shopping

Online shoppers in the US haven't been waiting until Black Friday to shop for holiday gifts. Metrics firm comScore shows an early surge in holiday shopping as more consumers try to beat the holiday rush.

by Kristina Knight

The first 18 days of the '07 holiday season (November 1 - 18), showed a 17% increase over 2006 numbers, reaching $7 billion. comScore is forecasting that online shopping will increase 20% this holiday season over the 2006 holiday season and could reach $30 billion.

“The online holiday shopping season got off to a slow start in the first week of November, but it has since picked up sharply,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Sales in the first ten days of November were up modestly versus year ago, but surged to levels in excess of 20 percent by mid-November. It’s likely that warmer than average weather at the beginning of November kept people outdoors and away from their computers, weighing down early holiday season sales, especially for key online categories like apparel. The growth rates during the second and third weeks of November are likely to be better indicators of how the remainder of the season will play out.”

Several early surveys are predicting that shoppers will continue shopping online this holiday season. A survey from Brand Keys suggests that there will be a 17% increase in online shopping. Meanwhile a poll from Maritz Research suggests that shopping in general on Black Friday will increase by 37%.