Online Black Friday Sales Show 1% Sales Bump
Despite dire predictions for this year's holiday season, Black Friday results for online retailers showed a 1% increase from last year's Black Friday sales, to $534 million, according to a report by market research firm comScore. All is not rosy in the stats, however; comScore noted that for the holiday season to date e-commerce was down 4% from last year.
Overall, retailers showed $10.6 billion in sales, up 3%, according to a preliminary report by ShopperTrak.
The question is: how much money are they making off these sales. Brick-and-mortar stores are attracting customers through the use of bargain prices, and that's possibly what's attracting online buyers as well.
According to a statement by eBay, PayPal transactions were up nearly 34% from last year's Black Friday, with a 26% increase in sales. This could show an influx of customers to eBay, looking for bargains, though it's also true that PayPal is running its annual holiday promotion, which this year includes cash-back incentives of from 5 - 30% as well as free shipping.
Cyber Monday, however, is the real indicator of the online shopping season; it is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, of note because many still shop online at work and this will be there first opportunity.
Overall, retailers showed $10.6 billion in sales, up 3%, according to a preliminary report by ShopperTrak.
The question is: how much money are they making off these sales. Brick-and-mortar stores are attracting customers through the use of bargain prices, and that's possibly what's attracting online buyers as well.
According to a statement by eBay, PayPal transactions were up nearly 34% from last year's Black Friday, with a 26% increase in sales. This could show an influx of customers to eBay, looking for bargains, though it's also true that PayPal is running its annual holiday promotion, which this year includes cash-back incentives of from 5 - 30% as well as free shipping.
Cyber Monday, however, is the real indicator of the online shopping season; it is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, of note because many still shop online at work and this will be there first opportunity.
