Friday, February 4, 2011

Ecommerce Sales In Q4 Breaks Records

A report released Friday by Internet measurement firm comScore finds that e-commerce spending reached a record of $43.4 billion for Q4 of 2010. The firm, which measures retail e-commerce sales, said the sales were up 11 percent versus a year ago. The continued growth is a welcome change from the last two years, when e-commerce sales actually dipped into the negative numbers for several quarters, after consistent, double digit sales gains every quarter. The sales numbers are the fifth consequtive quarter of year-over-year growth, and the second quarter of double-digit growth in the past year.

The increase in sales bring the overall growth in the e-commerce sector closer to the gains the sector was seeing in 2007 and early 2008, before the sector was impacted by the economic downturn. However, the results have not yet reached the level of Q2 and Q3 of 2007, when e-commerce saw 23 percent growth in both quarters.

comScore said the top performing categories in Q4 were computer software, consumer electronics, books and magazines, computers/peripherals/PDAs, and toys and hobbies.

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