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Issue #144: Holiday Spend

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                    SearchReturn Discussion List
             "Understanding Internet Search Technology"
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Moderator:                                          Published by:
Disa Johnson                                       SearchReturn
               http://www.searchreturn.com
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January 03, 2008                          SearchReturn Issue #144
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                   .....IN THIS DIGEST.....

// -- NEW DISCUSSION -- //

             "Holiday Spend"
                         ~ SearchReturn

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// -- NEW DISCUSSION -- //

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==> Holiday Spend

Many are reporting that the Holiday spending this last season may
have had stagnant growth offline in retail stores.  There was
even a warm weather period that brought out some extra shoppers
that might have otherwise stayed inside, but the weather
ultimately turned cold and stagnant growth was partly blamed on
the weather coupled with high gasoline prices.

More numbers are forthcoming by other agencies and some official
data should become available sometime after January 12th.  Early
numbers released by SpendingPulse (MasterCard Advisors) show that
Holiday spending rose just 3.6% between Thanksgiving and December
24th.  The data excludes gasoline purchases and includes online
purchases.  The category breakdown they analyzed includes
apparel, electronics and luxury items.

It's the online sector that showed vigorous growth this year.  As
reported by ComScore, online retail sales grew 19% to reach $28
billion over the Holiday shopping period.  That's excellent news
which has lasting effects on ecommerce.  MasterCard reported
ecommerce had a strong start with 30% growth, peaked November
26th at 40% and finished the season with 22.4% total growth.
That number is similar to ComScore's 19% figure, which is good
corroboration of the facts.

People are still increasingly becoming comfortable with online
shopping, even amid the older idea that submitting a credit card
number over the Web is a dangerous prospect.  Cyber criminals
made plenty of headlines over the course of 2007, and still users
made purchases despite the media attention.

Credit card databases are safer than ever before, especially as
shopping cart solutions and payment gateways, Google among them,
house the credit card information separately so you don't have to
worry about security.

This should serve to minimize stolen card numbers and help credit
agencies offer ecommerce services and guarantees against fraud.
Happy New Year everyone!  It looks like 2008 should be another
banner year for ecommerce and search.  SEO rules.

Stay tuned,
SearchReturn

 


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