Strong Online Sales in November, But Individual Spending Declines

Online shoppers spent 12% less per buyer this year

Cyber Monday saw $733 million in online spending, a 21 percent increase over last year and an 84 percent jump from the average daily online spending totals during the preceding four weeks, as comScore reported.

According to the Hitwise Retail 100 Index, traffic to retail websites on Cyber Monday rose 26 percent.

Traffic to some diamond and jewelry sites rose well above the 21-26 percent rate. Diamond.com reported that traffic rose 58 percent and sales increased 65 percent. Traffic to Ice.com jumped more than 70 percent and sales rose 82 percent.

“On Cyber Monday, consumers reminded retailers that there’s nothing like a bargain to motivate people to spend,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. “The holiday season is off to a strong start,” he added.

However, not all was rosy. While the number of online buyers was up 38 percent, the average dollars spent per buyer was down 12 percent. According to comScore, the decline in dollars per buyer may be due to two factors: deeper discounts from online merchants and the fact that first-time, new Cyber Monday buyers tend to spend less online than returning buyers.

In the first 26 days of November, which includes Cyber Monday, more than $10.7 billion was spent online, reported comScore, a 17 percent gain over last year.