Holiday E-Commerce Spending Set to Grow 15%

The CIO magazine is reporting that, based on the first three weeks of November, comScore is forecasting 15% growth in e-commerce spending for the 2011 holiday season. U.S. consumers have so far spent $9.7 billion online during the first 20 days of the November-December holiday season, which is up 14% compared to the corresponding days last year. The heaviest online spending day of the season to date came on Nov. 16, when sales hit $688 million. Last year, U.S. consumers spent a total of $32.6 billion online during the holiday season (excluding auction sites and travel spending). This year's online holiday spending is expected to top $37.6 billion for a 15% gain, according to comScore's estimates.

"With the persistent backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty and continued high unemployment, consumers appear to be increasingly favoring the online benefits of convenience and lower prices," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni, in a statement. "Due to the strength leading up to and during the holiday season-to-date, comScore's statistical models are forecasting that U.S. retail e-commerce spending will grow at a rate of 15% vs. last year."

In a related story Bloomberg reports that, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and EBay Inc. (EBAY), aiming to get more consumers to shop online this holiday season, are taking their fight to brick-and-mortar retailers’ home turf on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. EBay is planning holiday “pop-up” locations in New York, San Francisco and London that will let consumers scan a barcode and buy products on the spot, using mobile phones. Amazon opened an online Black Friday deals store on Nov. 1. It’s packing the site with offers each day to keep shoppers checking in over the Web, instead of heading to the mall. 

Internet sellers aim to spur more buying from couches and armchairs among the more than 95 percent of U.S. consumers who still shop in stores, ratcheting up rivalry with traditional retailers as economic weakness weighs on spending growth. EBay’s outdoor displays and shopping cafes, for example, seek to catch the eye of shoppers who are hurrying in and out of stores, offering an alternative to post-Thanksgiving crowds and lines.