Final 2015 Desktop Online Holiday Sales Reach $56.4 Billion, Up 6 Percent vs. Year Ago
Softer Than Expected Desktop Sales Partially Offset by Stronger Than Anticipated Gains in Mobile Commerce That Pushed Overall Growth Rate to About 13%
Cyber Monday Ranked as Heaviest Spending Day of the Season for 6th Consecutive Year
RESTON, VA, January 8, 2016 – Comscore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a global media measurement and analytics company, today reported holiday season U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers for the entire November-December 2015 holiday season. For the holiday season, $56.4 billion was spent online on desktop computers, marking a 6-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday (Monday, Nov. 30) once again ranked as the heaviest spending day of the year with more than $2 billion in desktop buying for the second year in a row.
2015 Holiday Season Spending vs. Corresponding Days* in 2014 | |||
| Millions ($) | ||
2014 | 2015 | Percent Change | |
Nov. 1–Dec. 31 | $53,305 | $56,427 | 6% |
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)* | $1,009 | $1,096 | 9% |
Black Friday (Nov. 27)* | $1,505 | $1,656 | 10% |
Holiday Weekend (Nov. 28-29)* | $2,012 | $2,169 | 8% |
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)* | $2,038 | $2,280 | 12% |
Thanksgiving thru Cyber Monday* | $6,564 | $7,201 | 10% |
Green Monday (Dec. 14 vs. Dec. 15, 2014) | $1,070 | $1,408 | 32% |
Green Monday (vs. Green Monday, Dec. 8, 2014) | $1,615 | $1,408 | -13% |
Free Shipping Day (Dec. 18)* | $926 | $845 | -9% |
*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days
Mobile Commerce Brings Total Digital Spend to Slightly Less Than $70 Billion
Total digital spend for the holiday season, when inclusive of Comscore’s preliminary mobile commerce estimates, reached $69.1 billion, about a 13-percent annual gain vs. $61.3 billion spent in the 2014 season. Mobile commerce is estimated to have accounted for 18 percent of total digital commerce in November-December 2015, an increase from 13 percent in the previous season. A total of $12.7 billion was spent via smartphones and tablets during this period, up a staggering 59-percent versus year ago.
Comscore’s holiday season forecast had expected desktop e-commerce to grow 9 percent to $58.3 billion and mobile commerce to grow 47 percent to $11.7 billion. While desktop spending fell short by 3 percentage points and $1.9 billion, preliminary mobile estimates suggest it exceeded forecast by 12 percentage points and nearly $1 billion, helping to offset the shortfall on desktop.
2015 Holiday Season Spending vs. 2014 Holiday Season Spending | |||
| Millions ($) | ||
2014 | 2015 | Percent Change | |
Total Digital Commerce | $61,285 | $69,079* | 13%* |
Desktop E-Commerce | $53,305 | $56,427 | 6% |
Mobile Commerce | $7,980 | $12,652* | 59%* |
Mobile % Share of Digital Commerce | 13% | 18%* | N/A |
*Preliminary Projected Estimates
“Despite falling slightly short of our original forecast of 14 percent growth, the 2015 online holiday shopping season was nevertheless very successful with growth rates well into double digits and once again far exceeding that of brick-and-mortar,” said Comscore chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni. “Fairly early on it became clear that desktop e-commerce would likely underperform our expectations while mobile commerce was poised to over perform, but for the most part signs continued to point to hitting that 14-percent overall growth estimate. Where the season ultimately fell short was in the last two weeks of the year, and in particular the week before Christmas. We had anticipated heavy desktop spending through Free Shipping Day on December 18th that unfortunately did not materialize, and spending began to soften more than expected by the Wednesday of that week.”
Mr. Fulgoni continued: “If there is an underlying takeaway from this holiday season, I think it will be remembered as the one where ‘mobile ate brick-and-mortar.’ Mobile became an essential shopping channel nearly doubling desktop in total retail traffic, while seeing growth rates approaching 60 percent year-over-year at the same time that offline retail experienced softness throughout the season. I believe that we’ve seen a paradigm shift in 2016 where the future of retail will increasingly be defined by consumers’ behavior on mobile.”
Top 10 Desktop Spending Days in 2015 Holiday Season
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30), for the sixth consecutive year, ranked as the heaviest online buying day with $2.28 billion in desktop spending. The day after Cyber Monday ranked second for the season at $1.95 billion, followed by Black Friday (Nov. 27) with $1.656 billion and Friday, Dec. 11 with $1.477 billion. For the entire season, sixteen individual days exceeded $1 billion in online spending via desktop, an increase from fifteen the previous year.
Top 10 Desktop Spending Days in 2015 Holiday Season | |
Day | Desktop Spending ($ Millions) |
Monday, Nov. 30 (Cyber Monday) | $2,280 |
Tuesday, Dec. 1 | $1,950 |
Friday, Nov. 27 (Black Friday) | $1,656 |
Friday, Dec. 11 | $1,477 |
Monday, Dec. 14 (Green Monday) | $1,408 |
Monday, Dec. 7 | $1,400 |
Tuesday, Dec. 8 | $1,396 |
Thursday, Dec. 10 | $1,244 |
Wednesday, Dec. 2 | $1,243 |
Tuesday, Dec. 15 | $1,240 |
About Comscore
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global media measurement and analytics company that makes audiences and advertising more valuable across all the screens that matter. Comscore helps media buyers and sellers understand and make decisions based on how consumers use different media, such as TV, video, mobile, desktop and more. Through its products and services, Comscore helps its more than 2,500 clients understand their audiences, know if their advertising is working, and access data where they want and need it. Please visit www.comscore.com to learn more.