US online holiday retail haul hits $37.2bn
As of mid-December 2011, six of the largest online spending days ever in the United States had been seen during the holiday shopping season.
So it's not surprising that the holiday shopping season of November and December of last year proved to be the biggest ever.
According to comScore, the total haul for online retailers was a whopping $37.2bn, up 15% from the prior year.
Holiday online spending approaching $25bn: report
Online and multichannel retailers pulled out their big guns in an effort to entice shoppers to open their wallets this holiday shopping season.
Early sales and heavy discounts figured prominently in their strategies, leading some to wonder whether they'd do too much, too early, leading to a drop-off in sales as the season progressed.
We quickly learned that the strong start sparked by Thanksgiving Day sales didn't apear to have a negative impact on Black Friday, and a strong Black Friday didn't stop consumers from spending on Cyber Monday.
But how are things going now?
Bing drops CyberMonday.com, others over "thin" content
For companies hit by Google's Panda updates, the search giant's approach to cleaning up its index may seem quite unfair.
But if Google has been aggressive with Panda, its efforts appear to be no match when compared to Microsoft's efforts to increase index quality on Bing. Need proof? Just ask CyberMonday.com, which is run by the National Retail Federation's Shop.org.
Following a strong Black Friday, Cyber Monday delivers a billion-plus in sales
Would a Thanksgiving and Black Friday push that saw retailers pushing online deals as hard as they were pushing offline deals have a negative impact on Cyber Monday?
Some retail industry observers argued that retailers eager to make Black Friday a multichannel event might simply shift purchases that would have come on Cyber Monday.
Holiday shoppers sprinted to snatch up bargains last week, so were the cautious observers right?
Online retailers prepare for 'Mega Monday'
Retailers are predicting that today will be the biggest online shopping day of the year as consumers ramp up their Christmas spending.
Visa, which labelled the annual shopping event ‘Mega Monday’, is expecting £303m to be spent online in the UK using its cards.
This equates to £3,500 per second, a 12% increase on 2010.
Online holiday shopping season off to strong start: report
Cyber Monday may be today, but many of the major retailers in the United States, eager to start the holiday shopping season strong, brought their sales online for Black Friday last week.
According to comScore, it worked: more than 50m Americans visited ecommerce websites on Friday, spending $816m, 26% more than they did in 2010. What's more: thanks to Thanksgiving Day sales, retailers sold $479m worth of stuff last Thursday, 18% more than they sold the year prior.
Will online retailers thrive thanks to an early Black Friday?
Some of the largest, most prominent multichannel retailers in the United States are so eager to get the holiday shopping season started that they're kicking Black Friday off early this year.
Instead of opening their doors to crowds on Friday morning, many are opening as early as midnight, hoping to cash in on consumers itching to burn off calories with some post-turkey dinner shopping.
Paid search boosted holiday online retail: report
2010 delivered everything most online retailers could have expected, and then some in many cases. According to the MasterCard SpendingPulse eCommerce Index, online sales rose over 15% year-over-year, and ecommerce accounted for $36.4bn in holiday sales.
Search marketing agency PM Digital says retailers can thank paid search for a good portion of that rise.
What recession? UK online shoppers buying more, spending more: report
Times are still tough but don't tell that to online shoppers, who are apparently buying more items and spending more on orders.
That's according to Coremetrics, which announced the results of a Benchmark Survey that looked at the sales of 150 top online retailers in the UK in the two weeks leading up to December 7.
Say goodbye to Cyber Monday as shopping habits merge
Black Friday used to be a day of excessive shopping and deals for retailers taking advantage of consumers with Thanksgiving vacation time. But as the online and offline worlds merge, the distinction between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is quickly disappearing.
Retailers are stepping up their online offers for the weekend, but those who wait until Cyber Monday to lure customers are going to miss out on large returns.
