This year, Santa went cybershopping

Iria · Dec 30, 2005, 11:55 PM

Online holiday spending rose 25 percent to 30 percent from a year ago, with hot items being computer hardware, consumer electronics and clothing, according to two reports released on Thursday.

A report from Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings and Harris Interactive found that between Oct. 29 and Dec. 23 retail shoppers in the U.S. spent $30.1 billion online, up 30 percent from the same period a year ago.

Clothing was the top seller in terms of dollar amount, at $5.3 billion total, up 42 percent from last year's revenue, the report said. Computer hardware and peripherals showed the most growth, 126 percent, at $4.8 billion. Consumer electronics was the second fastest growing category, garnering $4.8 billion, up 109 percent.

People spent $3 billion on books online, up 66 percent, and $2.3 billion on products in the toys/video games category of hardware and software, a drop of 9 percent from last year, the study found.

"Computer hardware and consumer electronics had a stellar season with the price reductions for laptops, plasma TVs, (and) color printers as well as high demand for iPods, digital cameras and media accessories," Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings, said in a statement.

Online sales snared about 27 percent of surveyed consumers' total holiday spending budgets this year, up from 16 percent four years ago, according to the study, which was based on national surveys of more than 8,600 shoppers. The data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. online population of adults. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
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Dec 30, 2005, 11:55 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	This year, Santa went cybershopping Online holiday spending rose 25 percent to 30 percent from a year ago, with hot items being computer hardware, consumer electronics and clothing, according to two reports released on Thursday. A report from Goldman Sachs, Nielsen/NetRatings and Harris Interactive found that between Oct. 29 and Dec. 23 retail shoppers in the U.S. spent $30.1 billion online, up 30 percent from the same period a year ago. Clothing was the top seller in terms of dollar amount, at $5.3 billion total, up 42 percent from last year's revenue, the report said. Computer hardware and peripherals showed the most growth, 126 percent, at $4.8 billion. Consumer electronics was the second fastest growing category, garnering $4.8 billion, up 109 percent. People spent $3 billion on books online, up 66 percent, and $2.3 billion on products in the toys/video games category of hardware and software, a drop of 9 percent from last year, the study found. "Computer hardware and consumer electronics had a stellar season with the price reductions for laptops, plasma TVs, (and) color printers as well as high demand for iPods, digital cameras and media accessories," Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings, said in a statement. Online sales snared about 27 percent of surveyed consumers' total holiday spending budgets this year, up from 16 percent four years ago, according to the study, which was based on national surveys of more than 8,600 shoppers. The data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. online population of adults. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. __________ Read More / Source: News.com