If you’re like many holiday shoppers, some of your presents came with the push of a button, not a trip to the mall this year.
The numbers are in and online sales this season are up by 16% to $38.7 billion and counting. According to research firm ComScore, “the 2012 holiday season saw 12 days with more than $1 billion in spending, surpassing last year’s total of 10 individual days.†Not to mention, “Cyber Monday led the charge with a record $1.465 billion in spending, followed by Tuesday Dec. 4 with $1.362 billion and Green Monday, Dec. 10, with $1.275 billion.”
There was also a late season surge where retailers offered free shipping promotions with a guaranteed ship date by Christmas. Some sites like Amazon offered 2-day free shipping promotions as late as December 20.
The final tally of online spending will be out after the new year, but so far retailers’ Cyber Monday success and free-shipping promotions have continued to lure more traditional shoppers online.