comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 22 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season, as well as its official spending forecast for the season. For the holiday season-to-date, $8.21 billion has been spent online, marking a 2-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

"The beginning of the online holiday shopping season has gotten off to a positive start, which is a nice improvement over the slightly negative growth rates we’ve experienced through much of 2009," said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. "Nonetheless, online spending this holiday season will likely be tempered by the stark reality of 10-percent unemployment and less disposable income in many consumers’ wallets."

comScore 2009 Holiday Online Retail Spending Forecast

The official comScore 2009 holiday season forecast is that online retail spending for the November – December period will reach $28.8 billion, representing a 3 percent gain versus year ago. This modest growth rate represents an improvement compared to last season’s 3-percent decline, but remains well below the growth rates of 20 percent or higher seen in previous years.

"After weathering the challenge of negative growth rates throughout much of the year, we are finally forecasting a return to positive growth at a rate of 3 percent for the 2009 holiday season," added Fulgoni. "However, we need to realize that this year’s expected growth rate reflects the rapid deceleration in online consumer spending that occurred during the last two months of 2008, making comparisons to the year ago time period more favorable for the current holiday season."

comScore 2009 Holiday Shopping Survey

Alongside its reporting of behaviorally monitored e-commerce spending, comScore is also conducting weekly surveys of approximately 500 consumers to determine attitudes and sentiment in regard to the holiday shopping season. In the most recent survey, conducted on November 20-23, 2009, 34 percent of consumers said they had not even begun their holiday shopping yet. They also indicated that deals and promotions are becoming an increasingly important part of the holiday shopping experience. Specifically, 45 percent said that they are seeing more discounts, sales or promotions this year versus last year, compared to just 9 percent who said they are seeing fewer.

One of the more prominent promotions for online purchases is free shipping. When asked how important free shipping is for making an online purchase this holiday season, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of consumers indicated it was important. Only 3 percent indicated free shipping was unimportant.