Online spending: More strong growth
Online spending increased sharply in 2007, suggest the latest industry figures.
According to online analysts comScore, US Internet retailers saw sales rise 19% in Nov-Dec 2007 compared with the same period in 2006.
The strong increases in online sales are all the more remarkable for coming at a time when the American economy has been experiencing difficulties fueled by falls in the housing market.
“I think is encouraging given the economic challenges facing consumers this year as a result of higher gas prices, lower home values and a jittery stock market.” commented comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
Amazon lead the way
Elsewhere, giant online retailer Amazon.com reported that the 2007 holiday season has been their strongest ever. On their busiest day in the 2007 season (December 10th), shoppers purchased over 5.4 million items - 62.5 every second.
In comparison, last year’s busiest day (December 11th), the figure was around 4 million. The news of their trading results pushed their share price up more than 2 percent.
Online Ad spending bucks trend
Although the total amount spent on all forms of advertising was fairly stable in 2007 (down 0.7% from 2006) the proportion of advertising budgets allocated to online ads continued to increase, up 15.9%.
According to analysts Nielsen, online ad share’s gain was largely at the expense of newspapers, spending on which was down 5.2%.
The figures will reinforce the growing importance of the Internet as a sales channel to the world of commerce and further highlight the importance of effective online advertising campaigns and search engine optimisation to Internet retailers.
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