Online vendors reap a windfall this festive season

Online vendors reap a windfall this festive season

Online shopping in the United States increased by 30 percent when compared to the same period last year, according to a report released by Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings and Harris Interactive. The period taken into consideration for this study was October 29 through to December 23.

Out of the total $30.1 billion spent, online shopping accounted for 27 percent of total shopping during the holiday season, which has seen a rise of 16 percent when compared to the year 2001.

Most of the online shoppers bought clothing worth $5.3 billion, which has risen by 42% over last year.

Computer hardware and peripherals were also able to leverage the cyberspace as this sector registered a sharp increase of 126 percent with $4.8 billion being spent. They, however, had to take the second spot behind apparels.

Consumer electronics also saw an increase in online spending to $4.8 billion spending jumping by 109% from 2004. Other sectors that reported boosts included books whose sales leapt by 66%. Surprisingly, sales of toys and video games registered a 9% drop from last year.

Nielsen/NetRatings retail analyst Heather Dougherty comments in the report read: “Toys and video games were not as fortunate this year, with a lack of the must-have toy to drive sales. Moreover, the line between product categories are blurring with the introduction of more hybrid devices that can be considered consumer electronics or computer hardware.”

Major search engines including Google and Yahoo helped the consumers to compare product prices charged by different vendors. Many online vendors also shipped goods free of cost which attracted many shoppers.

Dougherty added: “The 2005 holiday season was a gadget year for consumers of all ages, and consumers continued to show their love for free shipping.”

Around 8,600 shoppers were quizzed for this report, besides 1,000 buyers were surveyed each week in the holiday season to understand buying habits.