(By Balachander) Online retail spending for the holiday season will grow 17 percent, according to COMSCORE Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR)
The provider of digital analytics services said online retail spending for the November – December period in 2012 will reach $43.4 billion.
It is also far ahead of the retail industry's expectation for a 4.1-percent increase in consumers' overall spending this holiday season, COMSCORE noted.
"The 2012 online holiday shopping season is off to an encouraging start with a 16-percent growth thus far," said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni.
Recent 5-year highs in consumer confidence and early retailer promotions appear to be serving as wind in the sails for the beginning portion of the holiday season, with consumers opening up their wallets early and often, Fulgoni added.
"The strength leading up to and during the holiday season-to-date, in addition to a maximum 32 shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, provide the basis for what we view as a fairly optimistic outlook for the 2012 online holiday shopping season," added Fulgoni.
For the holiday season-to-date, COMSCORE said $10.1 billion has been spent online, up 16 percent from the same period last year. Thursday, November 8 has been the heaviest online spending day of the season to date at $829 million.