Awhile back the New York Times reported that Online sales had dropped from previous years and that they expected to see it continue to fall. We covered the report in our post, Online Sales Slowing: Shoppers Influenced Online, Buying Offline. This report caused a lot of discussion in the community among eCommerce experts. In my opinion, it’s normal to have up’s and down’s in business, whether Online or off. Many others felt the same, that it would just be a temporary fall before the holiday and seasonal shopping kicks in.

Already it’s back-to-school shopping season and from reports as recent as July of this year, it appears that Online sales have increased again and will continue to increase throughout this years holiday season and into 2008.

US & World Online Sales Reports:

Near the end of July, comScore reported that Online retail spending had grown for the week ending July 27th to $947 million, up from $674 million for the corresponding week a year ago, an increase of 40%. ComScore also reported that Online travel sales have also been increasing recently to $980 million from $760 million the same week a year ago, an increase 29%. travel sales for the entire year have been to $19.7 billion, up 34% from just a year ago.

Other reports have shown that during the entire month of July, weekly sales growth never fell below 25% and it was the thirteenth consecutive week of year-over-year sales growth. Not only are Online sales continuing to increase, but so are total retail sales. The average year-over-year growth for the first 29 weeks of 2007 was 2.5%, while the average from July was 5.7%.

UK Online Sales Reports:

Today, BBC News officials reported that Online sales in July, throughout the UK, have increased to record levels partially due to extreme wet weather. It appears shoppers stayed indoors and spent more time Online then in stores, battling traffic and the weather.

According to the BBC, Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) states that sales rose to £4.2bn in July, up from £2.34bn in the same month a year ago. In addition to extreme weather, the report mentions that Online spending is partially up due to improved retail websites, faster Internet connections and steady discounting or sales campaigns from Online vendors.

Other reports, including one from The Office for National Statistics, stated that UK retail sales increased by more than many analysts had expected this past July. Electronics were among the fastest growing UK items, which almost doubled from a year earlier. Clothing and accessory sales increased by nearly 60% from past months/years.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

I have been keeping my eye on reports like this since that NYT was published. I was skeptical to begin with and I could tell other in the industry were too. I decided to revisit the numbers shortly before the back-to-school shopping and holiday season to see if the numbers were continuing to decrease, but from what I have seen reported, Online sales and shopper spending is continuing to increase, continuing to break records and show no signs of slowing beyond what we have already seen this year.

It looks like this is going to be one of the best holiday seasons to date and that many shoppers are turning to buy Online than in past years. There are several things that influence this, but the most common are for hard to find items, convenience, special deals and site-to-store programs. Look for many more shoppers looking Online before they buy in a store near them this year.

If you are a merchant, it’s getting late, but still perfect timing for you to begin thinking out your holiday season marketing campaign, special promotions and unique ideas that will bring more customers to your doorstep this year. We will be releasing an article in the next couple of weeks geared toward specific holiday ideas, tips and pointers from experts and merchants who have seen success using seasonal marketing within their strategy in the past.