Black Friday Billions: $1.2 Billion in Desktop E-Commerce Spending Marks First Billion-Dollar Online Shopping Day of the 2013 Holiday Season

RESTON, Va., Dec. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported U.S. desktop retail e-commerce spending for the first 29 days of the November–December 2013 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $20.6 billion has been spent online, marking a 3-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

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Due to variation in the 2012 and 2013 holiday shopping calendars with Thanksgiving falling so late this year, current season figures are being compared to last year's, which contain a full week of heavy post-Thanksgiving/Cyber Week buying. As a result, the season-to-date growth rate is being artificially suppressed in the short term, with the effects likely to normalize as the season progresses. (An alternative comparison to the four weeks preceding Thanksgiving in 2012 shows a growth rate of 24 percent, which overstates the growth trend much in the way the current rate understates the real growth trend.)

Black Friday 2013 (November 29) saw $1.198 billion in desktop online sales, making it the season's first billion dollar day and heaviest online spending day to date, while representing a 15-percent increase versus Black Friday 2012. Thanksgiving Day (November 28), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 21-percent increase over Thanksgiving Day last year to $766 million.

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru November 30, 2012)

"While Black Friday – and now Thanksgiving Day – is the traditional kick-off to the brick-and-mortar holiday shopping season, both days continue to grow in importance on the online channel," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Clearly many consumers prefer to avoid the crowds and lines typically associated with Black Friday by shopping from the comfort of their own homes, and we saw a record 66 million Americans do that this year. Also interesting is that the recent trend of kick-starting holiday shopping by opening stores on Thanksgiving Day seems to be having a spillover effect on the online channel. Thanksgiving once again posted a well above average growth rate and is the fastest-growing online shopping day over the past five years, as more Americans opt for couch commerce following their Thanksgiving Day festivities."

Amazon Ranks #1 Among Online Retailers on Black Friday

66.1 million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday using a desktop computer, representing an increase of 16 percent versus year ago. Amazon once again ranked as the most visited online retail site on Black Friday, followed by eBay, Walmart, Best Buy and Target.

Apparel & Accessories Leads the Way for Holiday Category Spending

For the holiday season-to-date, Apparel & Accessories ranks as the leading product category for the season-to-date, accounting for 28 percent of online spending. Computer Hardware ranks #2 at 19 percent, followed by Consumer Electronics (7 percent), Consumer Packaged Goods (5 percent) and Shipping Services (5 percent).

The Apparel & Accessories category is posting particularly strong sales this holiday season as compared to the rest of the year with nearly double its baseline (i.e. January through October) market share while leap-frogging Computer Hardware to be the top-grossing product category. Notably, Computer Hardware is also outperforming its baseline market share for the prior ten months.

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in digital measurement and analytics, delivering insights on web, mobile and TV consumer behavior that enable clients to maximize the value of their digital investments. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.