Not only was Cyber Monday the biggest ever online shopping day (and only the second day during which online sales exceeded $1 Billion), it also capped a very promising start to the Holiday shopping season. In the first 28 days of November, U.S. retail, e-commerce spending amounted to $15 billion, a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. What’s more, the day is following the script written for it by its creators almost to the letter. “Half of [the] dollars spent online at U.S. Web sites originated from work computers, up slightly from last year.” ComScore’s informative press release (link below) contains graphs depicting the positive trends in online sales this Holiday season to date. comScore Press Release Nov. 29, 2011
Cyber Monday Was Biggest Online Shopping Day Ever with $1.25 Billion in Sales
China May Overtake U.S. in Online Sales within Next Four Years
According to Boston Consulting Group, e-commerce sales in China almost quadrupled between 2008 and 2010 to 476 billion yuan, as 23 percent of the country’s urban population shopped online last year, the consulting firm said in a report released yesterday. The report states that, “China’s massive geography hampers the effectiveness of physical retailing,” and that the country enjoys a low cost of shipping (roughly $1 on average to ship a 1-kilogram parcel, versus $6 in the U.S.) Those facts should suggest an opportunity for companies that specialize in virtually every kind of non-brick-and-mortar retailing, you know like HSN and QVC.
All of this leads one to wonder, why haven’t the U.S.-based shopping networks entered the Chinese market yet? Yes, Liberty Interactive said that they would look into such an expansion in the coming year. And yes, we know that finding the requisite Chinese partner company is a costly, cumbersome pain. But, come on, already! Bloomberg News Nov. 21, 2011
Online Sales in Q1 Grow to Almost One Third of U.S. Totals for HSN and QVC
QVC.com’s share of overall domestic sales grew 3% in the first quarter (versus prior year), reaching $371 million or a 32% share of all US business. HSN.com’s sales increased 15% over the prior year, accounting for 31.6% of the retailer’s total sales. Interesting piece in DM News suggests that the networks, themselves, deserve some credit for the successful migration of their customers to the web … that it’s not all due to maro trends. After all, there is no reason a onetime HSN TV shopper — one smitten by the web — might not shop Zappos, Amazon and the like. One redail analyst credits the networks for effectively translating the excitement of TV to the web. DM News May 17, 2010
According to a survey of 100 retailer chief marketing officers by accountancy BDO Seidman LLP, online sales for Cyber Monday are expected to increase by 2.4% over last year — with consumers responding to steep discounts and free shipping offers. As the WSJ chart shows, the rate of growth in online sales has slowed dramatically over the past year. The Wall Street Journal Dec. 1, 2008 Paid subscription may be required.
