Just as many Web retailers feared, online shoppers are being unusually frugal this holiday season.
During the first 23 days of November, according to a report to be released later on Tuesday by the research firm comScore, consumers spent $8.19 billion online, a 4 percent drop from the same period last year. That marks the first annual decline since e-commerce took off.
“We thought that things would solidify in November,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, who said gut-wrenching declines in the stock market and the auto industry crisis “spooked people who might have been thinking the worst was behind us.”
ComScore will also release its annual prediction for the entire holiday season on Tuesday, after some internal wrangling over whether to hold back the number because of too many unknown factors this year. The data firm is predicting that the overall holiday shopping season will improve slightly in December and end up at the same level as last year. In November and December 2007, the e-commerce market grew by 19 percent from the previous year.
“We have our fingers crossed that the stock market will not go through another 2,000-point meltdown and that the decline in gas prices will build up some cumulative buying power,” Mr. Fulgoni said. “However, if there is any more significant bad news just over the horizon, all bets are off.”
Other causes for limited optimism include buying activity spurred by anInternet-wide price war, and continued growth in products for “cocooning,” like video games, which can help people stay at home to weather the economic storm.
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