comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Q1 2011 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $38.0 billion for the quarter, up 12 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the sixth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates.

“Domestic retail e-commerce built on the success of a strong 2010 holiday season with another encouraging quarter here in the first three months of the year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Faced with rapidly rising gas prices and stubbornly high unemployment, consumers continued to take advantage of the Internet’s lower prices by shifting their spending from offline retail stores. In fact, in the first quarter, the growth in e-commerce spending was roughly double that observed at offline retail. While we would expect online buying to dampen slightly if gas prices continue to eat into discretionary spending, it’s clear that e-commerce has become a mainstay in consumer behavior, driven by the attraction of both lower prices and convenience.”

Other highlights from Q1 2011 include:

- The top-performing online product categories were: Video Games, Consoles & Accessories; Books & Magazines; Computers/Peripherals/PDAs; Consumer Electronics; and Computer Software (excl. PC Games). Each of the aforementioned categories grew at least 13 percent in Q1 2011 vs. year ago.

- The top 25 online retailers accounted for 67.7 percent of dollars spent online, the same percentage as last year, and down from a peak of 70 percent in 2010 as small and mid-sized retailers regain lost market share.

- The 12-percent growth in the quarter was a function of an increase in number of buyers (up 7 percent) and transactions per buyer (up 9 percent), but accompanied by a slight decline in dollars per transaction (down 4 percent).