Retail e-commerce (non-travel) grew 23% in the second quarter, reaching $27.2 billion from $22.2 billion in the second quarter of 2006, while online travel spending increased 14% to $20.3 billion, according to comScore’s report on US e-commerce spending for the second quarter of 2007.
Total US e-commerce spending climbed 19% in Q2, reaching $47.5 billion, comScore said.
“Retail e-commerce rebounded solidly in the second quarter after a modest start to the year,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore. “After posting 17% growth versus year ago in Q1, retail e-commerce sales grew 23% year-over-year in Q2, matching the growth rates we’ve seen during the past couple of years.”
The top-gaining e-commerce category in Q2 was videogames – consoles & accessories, which jumped 159% from the year-earlier period, driven by the strength of Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 sales.
Sport & fitness also made substantial gains (58%), followed by consumer electronics (51%) and event tickets (44%).
Based on the first-half growth rates, total US online consumer spending is on track to reach $200 billion in 2007, comScore said. In 2006, total US online consumer spending reached $170.8 billion, with non-travel spending accounting for $102.1 billion and travel spending accounting for $68.8 billion.
“Even factoring in the moderate growth rates from Q1, we’re currently on pace to break $200 billion in e-commerce spending in 2007,” said Fulgoni. “However, in the past we’ve seen growth rates accelerate as the year progresses, culminating with the online holiday shopping season, so $200 billion may actually turn out to be a conservative estimate.”
Yahoo and comScore: Online Pre-Shoppers Spend More In-Store
Speaking of shopping… exposure to online advertising is fundamentally changing the way consumers shop, according to new research from Yahoo and comScore that examined the impact of search and display advertising on in-store sales for five major retailers.
Consumers exposed to online advertising tend to research, or “pre-shop,” online prior to purchase, and this behavior ultimately leads to increased in-store sales, the study found: Pre-shoppers spend an average of 41% more in-store compared with consumers not exposed to online advertising.
“Although recent research cites 89%* of consumers shop for information about products online, less than 7%** of retail sales actually take place online,” said Amy Vener, Senior Director of Retail Category at Yahoo “This means retailers have a prime opportunity to engage this audience of ‘pre-shoppers’ through online advertising to capture incremental sales in-store.”
Insights from the study also included the following:
- Consumers exposed to online advertising are more engaged: Consumers exposed to display and/or search advertising viewed an average of six more pages during the period in which they were researching compared with those not exposed to advertising.
- Almost 90% of the incremental sales generated by online advertising take place in-store: Consumers exposed to online advertising spent an incremental six dollars in-store for every one dollar spent online.
- Integrated search and display campaigns have maximum impact: Combined search and display ad campaigns resulted in deeper engagement for consumers exposed to those ads, leading to increased sales.
The Yahoo/comScore study, conducted from April 2006 to January 2007, involved a sample of more than 175,000 comScore panelists and compared the purchasing behavior of those exposed to online advertising with the behavior of those who were not exposed, but who were otherwise behaviorally and demographically identical. The panelists’ in-store purchases were tracked at five major retail stores representing diverse retail segments, including major national department stores, a major apparel retailer and a major supplier of office products.
*BIG Research 2007
**Forrester State of Retailing Online 2007
