Online holiday shoppers spend $35B so far this season
This season's online spending marks a 13 percent increase over that of last year, says ComScore. But that's still below expectations.
Online spending hit $35 billion over the first 46 days of the holiday season , according to data out yesterday from ComScore.
From November 1 through December 16, sales jumped 13 percent jump over the same period last year. Last week set a record with spending surpassing $7 billion for the first time ever.
Green Monday (a term coined by eBay to refer to the second Monday in December) saw sales of $1.275 billion, while three other days for the season accounted for more than $1 billion in online spending.
However, the 13 percent rise is lower than expected, according to ComScore, as online spending has slowed in recent weeks.
The research firm is waiting to see if last-minute shoppers can ring up more sales before the season ends.
"This current week, which kicked off with Free Shipping Day on Monday the 17th, will be critical in making up some ground on a season-to-date growth rate that remains below initial expectations at 13 percent following a prolonged post-Cyber Monday lull," ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement.
"With many retailers extending their free shipping offers into Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we just may see the sort of late-season jolt needed to push growth rates back into the mid-teens."