U.S. Online Holiday Spending Up 19 Pct

Retailers may be characterizing the 2007 holiday season as “good, not great” for their bottom lines, but online retailers may have more reason to celebrate: according to market analysis firm comScore, Americans’ online holiday spending was up 19 percent in 2007, compared to the same period in 2006.

Nonetheless, the figure still represents somewhat of a let-down from the 2006 season, which saw a 26 percent online spending increase compared to 2005.

“Even as the holiday shopping season winds down after Christmas, we continue to see some relatively strong online spending days,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, in a statement.

According to comScore, Americans’ online spending from November 1 through December 27 amounted to some $27.96 billion, compared to $23.56 billion for the sae period a year ago. A few time-slices in that period show even stronger year-to-year growth: “Cyber Monday” (the Monday after Thanksgiving) saw a 21 percent year-to-year increase, “Black Friday” (the Friday after Thanksgiving) saw a 22 percent increase, and “Green Monday” (December 10) saw a 33 percent increase over 2006.

This year’s holiday season had an extra shopping day compared to 2006, but comScore also says unexpectedly warm weather in some parts of the country may have kept shoppers away from buying.