Online Retail Market Grows Unimpeded

In a previous life at Zacks Investment Research, I would find some way into a commentary about the mortgage crisis, bailouts and foreign investors, a plunging dollar, etc. These days, I am significantly more focused, specifically on retail, and all signs point to significant growth in

Clicking Consumers


ComScore, the experts in monitoring and reporting eCommerce sales notes that consumers are clicking to buy at a pace never seen before. For the period from November 1 to December 9, online retail spending is up 18% to $18.79 billion.



The trend has been pronounced week over week since this shopping season began as ComScore's chart demonstrates.



ComScore's data is backed up by America's Research Group, which reports that 46.3% of holiday shoppers bought something online this holiday season vs. only 41.3%. This is compared to a forecast from the National Retail Federation of 4% increase in holiday shopping overall.

Black Friday 2007 was off to a quicker pace than the NRF prediction posting 8.3% growth out of the gate according to the Washington Post. Technology sales were up 11.8% on Black Friday according to CNET News, althought the pace of that growth slowed year over year as 2006 was more than 15% higher than 2005.

C. Britt Beemer, founder and Chairman of ARG notes that all is not rosy as consumers are so programmed to wait for deep discounts on goods before they purchase in the holiday season as "43.6% of shoppers are waiting for 50% off sales to finish their Christmas shopping. Of those consumers not yet finished, 60.7% expect to finish between Dec. 22 and Dec. 24."

It is likely that retailers will bring great deals more and more to the eCommerce world as this becomes their major source of growth. The rush to open new stores is slowing according to Fortune Magazine, partially due to saturation, worsening financing for new real estate, and flattening retail sales. Expect the retailers to look for sales growth online and improved margins on those sales will drive them to use Mpayy.