comScore: Ecommerce grows only 1% in October

You may call it a bellweather for the upcoming holiday season; according to the latest research from comScore, US ecommerce (retail) growth slowed to only 1% in October 2008. In the non-travel categories, this is the slowest growth increase this year.

by Kristina Knight

"It's clear that the increase in the country's unemployment rate along with the shock of the financial market meltdown have had a negative impact on the psyche of the American consumer, and the effects were clearly felt in the online retail sector," said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. "October represented the softest single-month of online retail growth on record, and we can only hope that the recent sharp drop in oil prices will cause a continued easing of inflation and a strengthening in consumer spending as we enter the critical holiday shopping season."

Prior to October, there had been slowdowns; in July the growth rate slowed to 8% and in August and September the grow rate continued to slip. From August through October the overall growth rate increased on 4% and actually declined 3% in households making less than $50,000 per year.

In addition to spending less, economic fears are continuing to grow. According to the report, consumers in all economic sectors are worried about rising prices (43%), unemployment (21%) and the financial markets (25%).