Internet Becomes Mall for Long Island Holiday Shoppers

November 28, 2007

(Long Island New York) - Holiday sales surged Monday as online shopping web sites like Amazon.com, Ebay.com and many other e-retailers welcomed virtual shoppers who filled their electronic shopping carts and generated robust sales, according to an Internet research company ComScore Inc.

Online shoppers in the U.S. set a record for one-day sales on Cyber Monday, racking up US$733 million in purchases, comScore Networks said Tuesday.

While the first Monday after Thanksgiving kicks off the online holiday shopping season, it’s not the busiest day for retailers, according to comScore.

Last year, the busiest online shopping day was Wednesday, Dec. 13, generating $667 million in sales. The Monday after Thanksgiving was actually the 12th busiest day in terms of sales for the 2006 holiday period.

Nevertheless, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, known as Cyber Monday, represents the first big sales surge, as consumers return to their office and click on their computers to shop. ComScore said that Monday’s sales results represented an 84 percent jump from the average daily online spending totals during the preceding four weeks.

ComScore reported that the number of online buyers rose 38 percent from a year ago. But the average of dollars spent per buyer was down 12 percent. In a statement, comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said that he believes that deeper and broader price discounts depressed sales. He also noted that “new Cyber Monday buyers” tended to spend less online than returning buyers.

More than $10.7 billion has been spent online from Nov. 1 through Nov. 26, marking a 17 percent gain from the corresponding days last year, comScore said.

The number of online shoppers who pay for their purchases with credit cards has almost tripled since 1997. It’s up to 70 percent now, compared to 59 percent in 1999 and 34 percent back in 1997.

Although online stores have been struggling to keep up with the demand Internet performance analysis company Keynote Systems said on Tuesday that 10 of the 30 major retail sites it monitors for its holiday retail index showed significant slowdowns.

Long Island malls like Smithhaven, Sunrise Mall and the Tanger Outlets in Riverhead drew less agressive crowds then in previous holiday seasons as many Long Islanders ride the internet wave.

“People go online to save time. They shop online for convenience, not for price.”

Posted by News LI Editor · Edited by Brianna - Filed Under Technology