The Goldman, Sachs & Co., Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive's Holiday eSpending Report revealed today that online holiday shopping totaled $30.1 billion, excluding travel, during the 2005 holiday season. This season's online spending in the U.S. resulted in a 30 percent increase (+/- 3.1 percent margin of error) from the 2004 holiday season.
While traditional brick-and-mortar stores continued to hold the majority, or 68 percent of the 2005 holiday spending, it dropped 10 percentage points from the 2002 holiday season, when consumers said they intended to conduct 78 percent of their holiday spending in stores.
In contrast, the online sales channel rose 11 percentage points, garnering 27 percent of total budgets this year from 16 percent four years ago. Catalog buying remained steady at five percent this year, compared to six percent in 2002.
While traditional brick-and-mortar stores continued to hold the majority, or 68 percent of the 2005 holiday spending, it dropped 10 percentage points from the 2002 holiday season, when consumers said they intended to conduct 78 percent of their holiday spending in stores.
In contrast, the online sales channel rose 11 percentage points, garnering 27 percent of total budgets this year from 16 percent four years ago. Catalog buying remained steady at five percent this year, compared to six percent in 2002.