Tuesday, December 28, 2004

'Twas the season for online sales records

This was my 6th successful all-online Christmas shopping season. (OK, I bought a couple gifts in brick and mortar stores, but primarily shopped online). There's something satisfying about packages arriving on my doorstep every day in the weeks leading up to Xmas - much more satisfying than elbowing greedy shoppers and jockeying for position in long checkout lines in the stores....

'Twas the season for online sales records: "Online merchants had much to be joyful over during the just-concluded Christmas shopping season. According to the New York Times (registration required), the US$13.5 billion raked in by online businesses was a new record, topping 2003's total by 28 percent. The figures beat the estimates of research firms, which had predicted anywhere from a 19 percent to 26 percent increase. The US$13.5 billion was dwarfed by brick and mortar stores which saw sales of US$220 billion (an increase of 4.5 percent).

The key difference between this year and last year was purchase volume in the week before Christmas. More merchants were willing to guarantee Christmas delivery than in previous years, leaving those who habitually put off gift shopping to the last few days before the holiday an alternative to driving around for a half-hour looking for a parking space at an area mall. [more]"

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