Black Friday Boasts $595 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 11 Percent Versus Year Ago
30 November 2009 - 5:42AM
PR Newswire (US)
Strong Lead-Up to Black Friday Boosts Holiday Spending Growth to 3
Percent for the First 27 Days of the Season RESTON, Va., Nov. 29
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore (NASDAQ:SCOR), a leader in
measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail
e-commerce spending for the first 27 days of the November -
December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date,
$10.57 billion has been spent online, marking a 3-percent increase
versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 27)
saw $595 million in online sales, making it the second heaviest
online spending day to date in 2009 and representing an 11-percent
increase versus Black Friday 2008. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO ) 2009
Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008 Non-Travel
(Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Millions ($) ------------ Percent 2008 2009 Change ---- ----
------- November 1 - 27 $10,254 $10.570 3% --------------- -------
------- --- Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) $288 $318 10%
-------------------------- ---- ---- --- Black Friday (Nov. 27)
$534 $595 11% ---------------------- ---- ---- --- *Corresponding
days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru November
28, 2008) "Black Friday, better known as a shopping bonanza in
brick-and-mortar retail stores, is increasingly becoming one of the
landmark days in the online holiday shopping world," said comScore
chairman, Gian Fulgoni. "The $595 million in online spending this
Black Friday represents the second heaviest online spending day of
the season-to-date and a double-digit increase from last year.
While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday
season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than
anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative
promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use
of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Cyber Monday - the
traditional kick-off to the online holiday shopping season - and
the subsequent weeks will be the real test for how online retailers
fare this season. That said, this is a very encouraging start."
Promotions and Black Friday Bargains Drive Jump in Online Sales
Activity Over the years, the online channel has become an
increasingly influential driver in offline shopping behavior.
Before making purchases in brick-and-mortar retail locations,
consumers have become adept at doing their research beforehand. The
array of sites doing round-ups of Black Friday deals are becoming
more popular than ever. comScore studied eight Black Friday deal
sites for the five days ending Black Friday (Nov. 23-27) compared
to the corresponding days last year, finding that BFads.net led the
pack with 3.9 million unique visitors, up 4 percent versus last
year. BlackFriday.info followed with 3.5 million visitors, while
Black-Friday.net (up 136 percent to 2.3 million visitors) showed
the fastest growth. Unique Visitors to Selected Sites Featuring
Black Friday Deals Nov. 23-27, 2009 vs. Nov. 24-28, 2008 Total U.S.
- Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc. Unique
Visitors (000) --------------------- Nov. 24-28, Nov. 23-27, 2008
2009 Percent Change ----------- ----------- --------------
BFads.net 3,768 3,903 4% --------- ----- ----- --- BlackFriday.info
4,154 3,458 -17% ---------------- ----- ----- --- Black-Friday.net
956 2,258 136% ---------------- --- ----- --- TheBlackFriday.com
1,466 1,370 -7% ------------------ ----- ----- --- BlackFriday.fm
487 608 25% -------------- --- --- --- BlackFriday.com 1,008 550
-45% --------------- ----- --- --- BlackFriday.gottadeal.com 862
466 -46% ------------------------- --- --- --- BlackFriday2009.com
N/A 266 N/A ------------------- --- --- --- Some other notable
findings about Black Friday deal-seeking include: -- The number of
visitors to coupon sites on Black Friday grew 17 percent versus
year ago to 3.3 million visitors. -- BlackFriday.info was the most
visited coupon site on Black Friday with 748,000 unique visitors,
followed by RetailMeNot.com (356,000 visitors) and Eversave.com
(253,000). -- ShopLocal.com ranked as the most visited comparison
shopping site on Black Friday with 2 million visitors, up 31
percent versus year ago. Amazon Tops among Online Retail Properties
on Black Friday Five retail properties surpassed four million U.S.
unique visitors (i.e. four million different people) on Black
Friday, with each of these properties experiencing gains versus
last year. Amazon Sites was the most visited retail property on
Black Friday, growing 28 percent from the corresponding shopping
day a year ago, followed closely by Walmart, which grew 22 percent.
Apple.com Worldwide Sites (up 39 percent), Target Corporation (up 2
percent) and Best Buy Sites (up 24 percent) rounded out the top
five. Growth in Unique Visitors Among Top 5 Most Visited Retailer
Properties on Black Friday Excludes Auction Sites (e.g. eBay) Black
Friday 2009 vs. Black Friday 2008 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University
Locations Source: comScore, Inc. Percent Change in Retail Property
Unique Visitors --------------- ----------------- Amazon Sites 28%
------------ --- Walmart 22% ------- --- Apple.com Worldwide Sites
39% ------------------------- --- Target Corporation 2%
------------------ --- Best Buy Sites 24% -------------- --- "Much
attention has focused on Amazon and Walmart this season, and both
retailers performed particularly well online on Black Friday in
terms of attracting visitors," added Mr. Fulgoni. "We will be
watching closely to see how these retailers perform during these
next critical weeks of the season." About comScore comScore, Inc.
(NASDAQ:SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and
preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more
information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: comScore, Inc. CONTACT:
Andrew Lipsman, comScore, Inc., +1-312-775-6510, Web Site:
http://www.comscore.com/
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