December 2010 US Online Retail Sales Up 12 Percent Over 2009, Reports IBM

IBM Analytics Track Aggressive Promotions, Mobile Shopping as Key Drivers

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Jan 12, 2011, 09:00 ET

ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. online retail sector delivered double-digit growth in December 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to analytics-based findings by IBM (NYSE: IBM). IBM's findings expand on the company's earlier report that both Black Friday 2010 and Cyber Monday 2010 delivered strong double-digit growth over 2009.

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Delivered as part of Coremetrics, an IBM Company's holiday recap Benchmark Report, the analysis of the online retail sector reveals the following trends:

December 2010 Compared to December 2009 (year/year)

Consumer Spending Increases: Online sales were up 12 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value up from $171.06 to $190.42 for an increase of 11.3 percent.
Department Stores and Health and Beauty Retailers are Big Winners: Both department stores and health and beauty retailers continue to show growth in online sales that far outpace the online retail sector overall. Both sectors reported sales increases of approximately 23 percent, with department stores reporting an increase of 22.6 percent and healthy and beauty retailers reporting 23.3 percent.
Luxury Goods Continue Comeback: Jewelry retailers also reported a significant jump of 18.5 percent in sales.
Mobile Shopping: Consumers continue to use mobile technology as a shopping tool. Throughout December, 5.6 percent of all site visits were initiated from a mobile device, a 19 percent increase over November 2010. Further, 5.5 percent of all online retail sales came from mobile devices, a 7 percent increase over November 2010.

"Retailers did a tremendous job of enticing consumers to shop online with a variety of special promotions, guaranteed delivery dates, free or deeply discounted shipping, and up-to-date inventory information," said John Squire, chief strategy officer, IBM Coremetrics. "Consumers have come to value the ease and convenience of shopping whenever and wherever they please, and are increasingly turning to online sites to research and purchase a variety of products."

Source

These findings are based on data from Coremetrics Benchmark™, the only analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including real-time sales data. Benchmark leverages Coremetrics' cloud-based web analytics platform to rapidly collect and analyze intelligence on how consumers are responding to the products and services being offered to them, enabling clients to make fact-based, accurate decisions on marketing expenditures. As a result, marketing teams can gain deeper insight about their consumers and present personalized recommendations, promotions and other sales incentives across the wide variety of channels—including social networks and mobile devices—where consumers interact with their brands.

Benchmark gathers data directly from the web sites of more than 500 leading U.S. retailers. All data is aggregated and anonymous. Bloomingdale's, L'Occitane en Provence, Macy's, PETCO and Ross-Simons are just a few of the participating companies.

For more information on Coremetrics, an IBM Company please visit http://www.coremetrics.com/.