Online spending totaled $1.275 billion on Green Monday (December 10th), up 13% year-over-year according to research firm comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR). For the first 40 days of the holiday shopping season, online spending is up 13%, still below comScore’s predicted 17% increase for the entire holiday shopping period.

comScore’s chairman said:

While Green Monday remains a very important day for the season, as consumers have gained confidence with on-time shipment delivery, there is perhaps less urgency than there once was to make those final purchases at least two weeks in advance of Christmas Day. What we’ve seen over the past few years is a tendency for heavy spending to continue late into the week of Green Monday and right up until Free Shipping Day, which this year falls on December 17.

The number of buyers rose to more than 9 million and spending per buyer rose 6% to just shy of $141. Spending per transaction rose 2% to about $80.00 and the number of transactions per buy rose 5% to 1.76.

The largest gain came in the digital content and subscription category, up 22% year-over-year, on sales of digital books, music, and video downloads. Toy purchases rose 18%, followed by video games, consoles, and accessories (up 15%), consumer electronics including smartphones (up 15%), and computer hardware (up 14%).

Sales are up, just not as much as expected. The big unknown is whether or not the bulk of online shopping is behind us or in front of us. Given the decline in growth as Christmas draws closer, the signals point to a smaller increase than originally expected.

Paul Ausick

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