2008 Online Holiday Shopping Down 3 Pct

Market research firm comScore reports online holiday shopping was down three percent, with the fourth quarter of 2008 being down four percent overall.

For the last several years, online shopping has been in growth mode, consistently racking up higher and higher numbers as online businesses mature and more and more consumers get broadband and let their mouses do the walking. But the global economic downturn is impacting the online shopping industry: according to market research firm comScore online holiday shopping was down 3 percent in 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, and online sales for the entire fourth quarter of 2008 are down four percent compared to the same period a year ago.

The decline marks the first time comScore has reported a decline in online spending since the company started tracking aggregate online sales in 2001. comScore had previously projected holiday sales for 2008 would be flat with 2007 figures.

According to comScore, online spending between November 1 and December 23 totaled some $25.5 billion. Apple and Amazon were bright spots in the online retailing world, with traffic to Apple’s sites up some 19 percent from 2007 numbers with 35 million visitors, and Amazon up 7 percent from a year ago with 76.2 million visitors. Wal-Mart also saw a 4 percent increase in online traffic with 51.5 million visitors. Online auction site eBay actually dominated online holiday users with 85.4 million users, but that was actually a four percent decline compared to 2007 numbers.