Here's one more sign that the economy, both in the US and around the world, is in recovery mode: comScore is reporting that, overall, ecommerce increased by about 10% for the quarter. According to comScore numbers the online retail spend hit $33.98 million.
As should be expected, the Q1 2010 numbers are down several percentage points from Q4 2009 numbers. The holiday shopping season was, indeed, kind to both online and offline retailers. In Q4 the online retail spend reached just over $39 million.
For full Q1 comparisons, though, we must look at Q1 2009, 2008 and 2007. According to comScore in 2009 the Q1 online retail spend reached just over $31 million, basically the same as the 2008 spend. In 2007 online shoppers spent nearly $28 million online. So in three years the online spend for Q1 has increased just over $6 million.
The first quarter returned the U.S. retail e-commerce market to healthy double-digit growth rates. While these spending gains provide reason for optimism, it should be noted that upper-income households are currently shouldering much of the growth according to comScore.
One interesting note is the 'Pureplay' (online only) retailers continue to gain market share from multi-channel retailers, an indication that pureplay operations, are at present, better at targeting and engaging consumers.
