Black Friday Boasts $595 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 11 Percent Versus Year Ago
Strong Lead-Up to Black Friday Boosts Holiday Spending Growth to 3 Percent for the First 27 Days of the Season
RESTON, Va/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- comScore (NASDAQ:SCOR)
, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday
season retail e-commerce spending for the first 27 days of the November
- December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $10.57
billion has been spent online, marking a 3-percent increase versus the
corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 27) saw $595
million in online sales, making it the second heaviest online spending
day to date in 2009 and representing an 11-percent increase versus
Black Friday 2008.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO )
2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in
2008 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large
Corporate Purchases Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations Source:
comScore, Inc.
Millions ($)
------------
Percent
2008 2009 Change
---- ---- ------- November 1 - 27 $10,254 $10.570 3% ---------------
------- ------- --- Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) $288 $318 10%
-------------------------- ---- ---- --- Black Friday (Nov. 27) $534
$595 11% ---------------------- ---- ---- ---
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru November 28, 2008)
"Black Friday, better known as a shopping bonanza in
brick-and-mortar retail stores, is increasingly becoming one of the
landmark days in the online holiday shopping world," said comScore
chairman, Gian Fulgoni. "The $595 million in online spending this Black
Friday represents the second heaviest online spending day of the
season-to-date and a double-digit increase from last year. While this
acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be
shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also
reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth
by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as
Facebook and Twitter. Cyber Monday - the traditional kick-off to the
online holiday shopping season - and the subsequent weeks will be the
real test for how online retailers fare this season. That said, this is
a very encouraging start."
Promotions and Black Friday Bargains Drive Jump in Online Sales Activity
Over the years, the online channel has become an increasingly
influential driver in offline shopping behavior. Before making
purchases in brick-and-mortar retail locations, consumers have become
adept at doing their research beforehand. The array of sites doing
round-ups of Black Friday deals are becoming more popular than ever.
comScore studied eight Black Friday deal sites for the five days
ending Black Friday (Nov. 23-27) compared to the corresponding days
last year, finding that BFads.net led the pack with 3.9 million unique
visitors, up 4 percent versus last year. BlackFriday.info followed with
3.5 million visitors, while Black-Friday.net (up 136 percent to 2.3
million visitors) showed the fastest growth.
Unique Visitors to Selected Sites Featuring Black Friday Deals Nov.
23-27, 2009 vs. Nov. 24-28, 2008 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University
Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Unique Visitors (000)
---------------------
Nov. 24-28, Nov. 23-27,
2008 2009 Percent Change
----------- ----------- -------------- BFads.net 3,768 3,903 4%
--------- ----- ----- --- BlackFriday.info 4,154 3,458 -17%
---------------- ----- ----- --- Black-Friday.net 956 2,258 136%
---------------- --- ----- --- TheBlackFriday.com 1,466 1,370 -7%
------------------ ----- ----- --- BlackFriday.fm 487 608 25%
-------------- --- --- --- BlackFriday.com 1,008 550 -45%
--------------- ----- --- --- BlackFriday.gottadeal.com 862 466 -46%
------------------------- --- --- --- BlackFriday2009.com N/A 266 N/A
------------------- --- --- ---
Some other notable findings about Black Friday deal-seeking include:
-- The number of visitors to coupon sites on Black Friday grew 17 percent
versus year ago to 3.3 million visitors.
-- BlackFriday.info was the most visited coupon site on Black Friday with
748,000 unique visitors, followed by RetailMeNot.com (356,000
visitors) and Eversave.com (253,000).
-- ShopLocal.com ranked as the most visited comparison shopping site on
Black Friday with 2 million visitors, up 31 percent versus year ago.
Amazon Tops among Online Retail Properties on Black Friday
Five retail properties surpassed four million U.S. unique visitors
(i.e. four million different people) on Black Friday, with each of
these properties experiencing gains versus last year. Amazon Sites was
the most visited retail property on Black Friday, growing 28 percent
from the corresponding shopping day a year ago, followed closely by
Walmart, which grew 22 percent. Apple.com Worldwide Sites (up 39
percent), Target Corporation (up 2 percent) and Best Buy Sites (up 24
percent) rounded out the top five.
Growth in Unique Visitors Among Top 5 Most Visited
Retailer Properties on Black Friday Excludes Auction Sites (e.g.
eBay) Black Friday 2009 vs. Black Friday 2008 Total U.S. -
Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Percent Change in Retail Property Unique Visitors ---------------
----------------- Amazon Sites 28% ------------ --- Walmart 22% -------
--- Apple.com Worldwide Sites 39% ------------------------- --- Target
Corporation 2% ------------------ --- Best Buy Sites 24% --------------
---
"Much attention has focused on Amazon and Walmart this season, and
both retailers performed particularly well online on Black Friday in
terms of attracting visitors," added Mr. Fulgoni. "We will be watching
closely to see how these retailers perform during these next critical
weeks of the season."
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR)
is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source
of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit
www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
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Source: comScore, Inc.
CONTACT: Andrew Lipsman, comScore, Inc., +1-312-775-6510,
press@comscore.com
Web Site:
http://www.comscore.com/
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