Online sales see spike in days following Cyber Monday

comScore provided some welcomed news Sunday when it released the results of its study tracking retail e-commerce spending for the five days following Cyber Monday.

According to comScore, online sales for the holiday season through Dec. 5 were $14.92 billion, essentially the same level as last year. But sales for the five days beginning with Cyber Monday on Dec. 1 through Dec. 5 totaled $3.74 billion, up 9% from last year. Traffic at retail Web sites also was up during that five-day period.

Target was in fourth place in terms of unique visitors during that time, though it, too, saw that number drop 2% from last year. Out of the top four sites, only Wal-Mart and Amazon saw growth in the number of unique visitors to their respective Web sites.

In terms of categories, sports-and-fitness and consumer electronics grew the most in dollar sales during the period from Dec. 1 to Dec. 5. Sales in sports and fitness were up 35%, while CE sales rose by 24%. The softest retail categories included music, movies and videos (down 24%) and jewelry and watches (down 22%).

“The online holiday shopping season has picked up noticeably since Thanksgiving, as consumers have given in to the holiday spirit—and very attractive retailer discounts,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Particularly encouraging is the growth of 9% in online sales that has occurred since Cyber Monday.

“While this growth is certainly a positive development in this tough retail season, it also needs to be put into perspective,” continued Fulgoni. “With the compressed time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year—five days shorter than last year—we need to see continued strong growth during the critical weeks between today and Christmas if this year’s shopping season is to at least match that of last year.”