Online shopping explodes for holiday
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
"Cyber Monday" sales were eclipsed this holiday season by strong online sales figures for Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, according to statistics culled from the Chase Paymentech Pulse Index, which tracks transactions of 10 of the top 30 U.S. retail Web sites. Compiled by online payments firm Chase Paymentech Solutions, the index found that online sales for Monday, Nov. 26 reached $104.8 mil., while sales on Wednesday, Nov. 28 represented an all-time high in the index of $134 mil. "Retailers on average appear to be up in the strong double-digits for the comparable time period last year; these numbers are even stronger than the growth experienced from 2005 to 2006," Forrester Research principal analyst Sucharita Mulpuru says in a guest commentary on the Chase Paymentech Web site. The aggressiveness of retailer promotions and overall comfort level consumers have with the online shopping experience is likely driving growth, exec adds...