Online Holiday Spending Trends Predictions

[mandy]

It makes sense to cut prices now with Thanksgiving weekend upon us and two traditionally big shopping days: Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday (the first Monday after Thanksgiving). Last year, $924 million was spent online (not including eBay sales) over the four day weekend, and an additional $484 million was spent on Cyber Monday, according to ComScore Networks. This week, CNN Headline News reported that 1.37 million shoppers will hit the stores this weekend. ComScore Networks predicts $1.15 billion of the sales will be online, with an additional $600 million being spent online on Cyber Monday. That would give Cyber Monday higher sales than any day in the 2005 holiday season...

One of the things that can keep buyers away from online sites is high shipping costs. Interestingly, CNN reported this morning that 83% of online retailers are not charging shipping this year. This may be something eBay sellers should consider to remain competitive with other online retailers...

Still, it's not all good news. Thirty-two percent of respondents to a recent BuySAFE/Insight Express survey said they would spend a greater percentage of their holiday shopping budget online if they had greater trust in the retailer. So it looks like seller feedback and third-party trust seals may be even more important during this season...

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m11/i23/s02