Chase: Cyber Monday online sales up 22% from last year

New York -- Cyber Monday continues its importance, driving a nearly 22% increase in year-over-year online sales, Chase reported Tuesday as part of its latest Holiday Pulse report. Monday sales beat Sunday, the next highest day, by a margin of 26.7%.



"Any way you look at the data, there's no doubt that web retailers had a strong Thanksgiving weekend, which culminated in a very strong Cyber Monday with web sales up nearly 22% over last year," said Sucharita Mulpuru, VP, principal analyst, Forrester. "The lower average ticket values and higher number of transactions means that retailers had a lot of free shipping offers with low thresholds. The biggest challenge at this point is for retailers to keep the momentum going through December as a lot of consumers are probably 'shopped out' for the next couple of weeks."



Year-to-date, e-commerce sales are up 15.3%. This is in line with the season predication from Forrester that online shoppers in the U.S. will spend 15% more this holiday season.



Looking at combined Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday results, Pulse recorded a nearly 31% year-over-year growth. This may suggest that merchants are expanding available offers and shoppers, equipped with mobile devices, are responding in large numbers. Based on 2011 Pulse results, the Pulse expects to see continued strong online shopping activity throughout ‘cyber week.’



In-store sales for the three-day period including Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday were up year-over-year by 2.1%, with transaction volume increasing 2.6% and average ticket dropping by 0.5%. Furniture stores, sporting goods stores and wholesale clubs all saw year-on-year growth of 6% or more.