Latest News … First Drop Since 2001, Yet eCommerce Still Growing
February 17th, 2009. Posted by Kyle Aspinall
The 4th quarter of 2008 was the first ever recorded quarter of negative growth since 2001 when comScore started tracking US eCommerce spending.
Despite this, 2008 still saw 6% growth in eCommerce spending, up to 130.1 billion USD.
“The fourth quarter rounded out what was a particularly challenging year for online retailers,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “The financial market meltdown that began in the fall dramatically reduced consumers’ discretionary spending power, resulting in the first quarter of negative growth that we’ve observed”.
Figures recently released by the US Commerce Department show retail sales for January 2009 increased by 1.0% from December 2008.