Overstock sees online sales surge

As holiday shoppers hunted for online deals Thanksgiving weekend the Overstock.com Web site provided fertile hunting grounds.



The retailer said its sales between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday increased 23 percent compared to the same period the prior year. In addition to new customers, the increase was driven by an 8 percent increase in average individual order size. Cyber Monday sales increased 24 percent while Thanksgiving day saw the largest gain, up 38 percent off of a smaller initial base than Cyber Monday.



"Our loyal customer base and reputation as one of the most trusted brands, on or offline, have made this holiday weekend a great start to our busiest time of year," said Overstock president Stormy Simon. "People have really learned that the best place to find deals during the holidays is online."



The company said furniture sales represented the highest-performing product category, up 37 percent during the five day period. The increase helped Overstock's home and garden department, which includes furniture, become the highest performing department over the period, with a 37 percent sales increase from 2013 and a 36 percent increase over last year's Cyber Monday alone.



"We've seen a lot of people purchasing larger home and garden items this year, things you normally wouldn't associate with holiday gifts," Simon said. "Of course people are still taking advantage of the doorbuster items we have on site specially priced for Black Friday and Cyber Monday."