'Free Shipping Day' Promotion Spurs Late-Season Online Spending Surge, Improving Season-to-Date Growth Rate to 16 Percent vs. Year Ago

Final Online Shopping Week Before Christmas Saw 53 Percent Growth in Spending

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Dec 23, 2012, 03:07 ET

RESTON, Va., Dec. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 51 days of the November–December 2012 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date $38.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 16-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week kicked off with Free Shipping Day (Monday, Dec. 17), which delivered a strong $1.01 billion in spending representing a 76-percent growth rate vs. the corresponding Monday last year, but on a par with Free Shipping Day in 2011 which occurred on Dec 15, 2011. The 5-day work week ending December 21, 2012 recorded a growth rate of 53 percent in spending, a notable accomplishment this late in the season.

*2012 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days in 2011 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.**
	Millions ($)
	2011	2012	Percent Change
November 1-December 21	$33,479	$38,690	16%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22)	$479	$633	32%
Black Friday (Nov. 23)	$816	$1,042	28%
Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 24-25)	$1,031	$1,187	15%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 26)	$1,251	$1,465	17%
Green Monday	$1,133	$1,275	13%
Workweek of Dec. 17-21	$2,412	$3,686	53%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 3 thru December 23, 2011)

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"Free Shipping Day kicked off the final week before Christmas on a strong note with $1.01 billion in spending," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "It was the opening to an exceptionally strong week, which saw spending grow by 53 percent. We typically do not see such heavy spending this late in the season, but the fact that Free Shipping Day occurred on a Monday, combined with the fact that so many retailers extended their promotions into the middle of the week -- with guaranteed shipping by Christmas -- helped deliver an encouraging late-season surge. The result has been a significant uptick in the season-to-date growth rate, which now stands at 16 percent."

Top 10 Heaviest Online Spending Days in 2012
With the heaviest portions of the online holiday season now in the books, comScore can report the top ten biggest sales days for 2012. The season was once again led by Cyber Monday (Nov. 26) with a record $1.465 billion in spending, followed by Tuesday, Dec. 4 with $1.362 billion and Green Monday (Dec. 10) with $1.275 billion. Three of the top ten days occurred on a Monday, which is typically the heaviest day of the week for online spending. The 2012 holiday season saw 12 days with more than $1 billion spending, surpassing last year's total of 10 individual days.

Top Ten U.S. Online Spending Days of 2012 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Rank	Date	Spending in Millions ($)
1	Monday, Nov. 26 (Cyber Monday)	$1,465
2	Tuesday, Dec. 4	$1,362
3	Monday, Dec. 10 (Green Monday)	$1,275
4	Tuesday, Nov. 27	$1,263
5	Tuesday, Dec. 11	$1,220
6	Friday, Dec. 14	$1,219
7	Thursday, Dec. 13	$1,135
8	Monday, Dec. 3	$1,117
9	Wednesday, Nov. 28	$1,110
10	Wednesday, Dec. 5	$1,051

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.