Friday, November 12, 2010 | Edited by Daniel Moores

Online Retail Sales Enjoy Record Q3 ComScore released their research titled "State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy in Q3 2010" in a webinar this week. Gian Fulgoni, comScore Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, explained how consumer attitude and behavior fared last quarter, and the news was good. Fulgoni reported that although trends for e-commerce sales grew every year until 2009, which was down 5% from 2008, the research shows 2010 through Q3 has rebounded and surpassed previous high sales that preceded the recession. Online sales in Q3 were up 9% over a year ago to $32.1 billion, achieving an all-time Q3 high. This is in contrast to overall retail sales in Q3 being below what they were two years ago. This year, e-commerce is approaching 10% of all retail sales. Auction sites such as Groupon (www.groupon.com) and livingSocial (http://livingsocial.com) are included in total online retail sales. This retail subcategory has seen huge growth, but according to comScore appears to be leveling off. The strongest categories for online sales in Q3 were: Books and magazines Computers/Peripherals/PDAs Consumer electronics Apparel and accessories According to comScore, an opportunity for the future will be mobile. Their research is showing mobile e-commerce is not a major platform yet, but the percentage of growth is 21% to date this year and projections are that similar growth will continue in the foreseeable future. Looking forward to Q4, comScore reports that 34% of consumers are willing to make Christmas gift purchases now if the price is right. Another 16% said they are not able to shop for Christmas now because they do not have the money. Most all respondents (84%) said usage of coupons or discounts are somewhat or very important. Special pricing by retailers will be more important this year than ever. Other details of ComScore research are available at www.comscore.com. (Source: John Potter, VP/Training, Radio Advertising Bureau)