US retail e-commerce spending for the first 28 days of the November-December 2011 holiday season totaled $15.0 billion, up 15% over the corresponding days in 2010, as Cyber Monday recorded $1.25 billion in online spending, up 22% from a year earlier and the heaviest online spending day in history, according to to data from comScore.
The sales numbers arrive on the heels of relatively strong Black Friday (November 25, 2011) performance, which recorded $816 million in online sales, up 26% over Black Friday 2010 levels.
Sales Growth Driven by Both Buyers and Spending per Buyer
Growth in Cyber Monday 2011 sales was driven by an increase in both the number of buyers (up 11% over 2011 levels) and the average spending per buyer (up 9%). Some 10 million people purchased goods online on Cyber Monday, an all-time high for single-day activity. The average online buyer conducted 1.9 online transactions on Cyber Monday for a total of nearly $125 in spending.
Shopping at Work Accounts for Half of Cyber Monday Spending
One-half (50.2%) of dollars spent online at US websites originated from work computers, up slightly from last year. Buying from home comprised the majority of the remaining share (43.2%) while buying at US websites from international locations accounted for 6.6% of sales.
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"Cyber Monday was yet another historic day for e-commerce, with online spending reaching a record $1.25 billion," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "It was just the second billion dollar spending day on record, following on the heels of Cyber Monday 2010."
"While last year saw Cyber Monday rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year for the first time ever, it will be interesting to watch the next couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this year's highest day-to-date."
