Billion Dollar Hot Streak: Strong Week for Online Retail Spending Headlined by First-Ever Week Featuring Five Billion Dollar Weekdays

RESTON, Va., Dec. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers for the first 45 days of the November-December 2013 holiday season, showing that $37.8 billion has been spent online. For the first time ever, the most recent workweek saw five individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday with $1.4 billion. The week before (December 2-6) fell short of that accomplishment when Friday, December 6 missed the $1 billion milestone by just $16 million. Overall there have been ten individual $1 billion days this season, and the most recent week (December 9-15) reached nearly $7.7 billion in desktop spending. Total spending since Thanksgiving has been $19.2 billion, up a healthy 21-percent vs. the same period following Thanksgiving last year.

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Weekend Online Spending Growth Driving Strong Gains Since Thanksgiving
One of the emerging storylines from the 2013 holiday season is the growth of online retail spending during the weekends. Historically, the work week tends to be when the heaviest online spending happens, in part because people are in front of computer screens for longer periods of time, while the weekends tend to be stronger for brick-and-mortar retail and lighter for online buying. This year, however, exceptionally strong year-over-year growth rates of at least 30 percent have been seen on each weekend since Thanksgiving, while gains on the weekdays have been between 10-16 percent.

*Corresponding days based on Week of Thanksgiving and two weeks following (Nov. 25 – Dec. 15, 2013 vs. Nov. 19 – Dec. 9, 2012)

"One of the most interesting stories we are seeing this holiday season is the explosion in weekend online spending," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "While we have seen solid growth during the days between Monday and Friday, weekend growth rates have surged to nearly 4x what we're seeing during the work weeks."

Added Fulgoni, "There are a few likely explanations for the robust weekend shopping we're seeing. The first is that with six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, consumers who are pressured to get their shopping done in less time are simply increasing their offline shopping on the weekends. Another explanation is that because of the shortened season frenzy, perhaps some consumers are opting to shop from home and avoid the long store lines. Finally, with so many consumers now adept at using their mobile devices to 'showroom', a higher number than in previous years may be 'touching and feeling' products in-store before completing their transactions online."

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.