Purchase, N.Y. – Online sales rose 15.4 percent to $36.4 billion
during the holiday season, with CE showing “significant gains,” MasterCard
reported.
According to the company’s SpendingPulse report, compiled by MasterCard’s
Advisors professional services arm, CE was a top-selling category, although
apparel led the e-tail pack with 18.8 percent of total sales for the Oct.
31-Dec. 24 period.
“Today e-commerce accounts
for a much larger share of overall retail sales compared to a few years ago,”
registering double-digit growth for six out of seven weeks, said Michael
McNamara, MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse VP.
Indeed, online sales surpassed $1 billion on six separate days during
the 2010 holiday season, compared with three days in 2009. Top dollar days
included Tuesday, Nov. 30, the day after Cyber Monday, which registered $1.16
billion in sales, and Wednesday, Dec. 1, registering $1.13 billion. Cyber
Monday itself generated $999.3 million in sales, a 25.3 percent increase over
last year.
SpendingPulse sales data includes national retail and services
sale, and are based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments
network, coupled with survey-based estimates for all other payment forms,
including cash, check and other credit cards.
