2008 Online Holiday Shopping Sales Decline 3% to $25.5 Billion

Online retail spending during this year’s holiday season, between November 1st and December 23rd, declined 3 percent to $25.5 billion compared to the same period in 2007, according to comScore tracking analysis.

The company, which measures e-commerce, says this year is the first time since 2001 that there has been negative growth in the holiday season, which is attributable to the combination of having five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and the “severe economic headwinds faced by consumers.” 

Similarly, the fourth quarter of 2008 will mark the first full quarter to record negative growth since 2001, with e-commerce spending for the period of October 1 – December 28 down 4 percent to $36.8 billion.

Despite low retail sales, several top retailers registered growth in site traffic during December 1-24, compared to the same holiday period in 2007. Though eBay suffered a 4 percent drop in visitors, it remained the most visited retail site with 85.4 million visitors; Amazon sites had a 7 percent increase in site traffic totaling 76.2 million visitors.

Traffic to Wal-Mart sites rose 4 percent to 51.5 million visitors, while Target was down 1 percent to 46.8 million visitors. Department store JC Penny registered a decline in site visitors of 11 percent, while Macy’s Inc. had a 1 percent rise in visitors.