Holiday Shopping Stats Show Clear Internet Trend

As the economic statistics for Black Friday and Cyber Monday came in, there was a wide range of opinion on its success depending on which news channel you paid attention to. Despite a prediction of growth in holiday shopping, the National Retail Federation's preliminary retail report quoted an 11% drop in sales; however, they still predict an increase in overall sales for the holiday season. 

A major factor that may have affected the holiday economic reports was that many retailers offered discounts days and weeks before the Thanksgiving weekend. Many shoppers may have started shopping earlier, so Thanksgiving and Black Friday specific sales results may have been diluted.

Regardless, there are several favorable economic indicators for this holiday season: 

• The Consumer Electronics Association reported 45% of shoppers bought electronics which was an increase over the past 3 years. 
• Target reported that Thanksgiving was the best online shopping day ever.
• Wal-Mart reported Thanksgiving as its second highest ever. 
• According to ComScore, there was an increase of over 25% in online sales on both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. 
• IBM reported an online sales increase of a little over 14% on Thanksgiving and an almost 10% on Black Friday when compared to the numbers from last year.

These statistics, as well as commentary from several analysts, seem to support a significant shift toward online shopping, and a decline in in-store traffic.

Without even looking at the Cyber Monday economic stats, it is apparent this year that online shopping is seeing a sharper incline in the percentage of holiday sales business. This reinforces the premise that, more than ever, retailers need a strong Internet sales presence to compete in our ever-increasingly technology-driven world.