US holiday season online spending climbs
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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Industry tracker comScore on Thursday reported that United States (US) shoppers spent a total of US$42.3 billion (S$52 billion) online during the year-end holiday season - a 14 per cent jump from the same period in 2011.
"The 2012 online holiday season was once again a very strong season with growth rates in the mid-teens as we reached record-setting spending levels," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
US e-commerce started out "at a very healthy" rate in November but consumers quickly eased back on spending, apparently due to concerns that Congress would fail to make a budget deal averting a "fiscal cliff".
"You might say that had it not been for Congress, every other indicator suggested it would have been an even merrier Christmas for online retailers," Mr Fulgoni said.
