Holiday Internet Sales in U.S. Rise at Slowest Pace on Record

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from Bloomberg:



Holiday Internet Sales in U.S. Rise at Slowest Pace on Record

By Mark Clothier

Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Internet sales rose at the slowest pace on record as discounts cut revenue in the final days of the holiday shopping season.

Online spending from Nov. 1 through Dec. 21 increased 19 percent from the same period a year earlier to $26.3 billion, Reston, Virginia-based ComScore Inc. said yesterday in a statement. Sales trailed last year's 26 percent growth and the research firm's forecast for a 20 percent gain during this year's holidays.

Consumers have limited spending growth this year as gasoline and food prices rise and mortgage defaults increase. The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment for December dropped to 75.5, the lowest since October 2005.

``This year will be the year of the discount,'' Fred Crawford, managing director at AlixPartners LLP, told Bloomberg Television on Dec. 21. AlixPartners is a consulting firm based in Southfield, Michigan.

ComScore hasn't recorded growth of less than 20 percent since it began reporting online sales figures in 2002. .....(more)

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