Cyber Monday was big, rest of week softened

Metrics firm comScore released information on the amount spent on Cyber Monday in the US. Cyber Monday was a big shopping day according to the firm with $1.028 billion spent. That massive total made Cyber Monday the largest shopping day online this year. The reminder of Cyber Monday week had strong shopping as well, but the amount spent softened considerably.

Tuesday after Cyber Monday saw $911 million spent online. On Wednesday online spending slumped to $868 million and Thursday online spending was $850 million. The week saw four different days with over $800 million in online sales. The entire week for Cyber Monday ending December 3 saw spending hit $5.163 billion, up 9% for the spending the same week of last year at $4.274 billion.

"Cyber Monday kicked off the most recent work week with an all-time record of more than $1 billion in e-commerce spending, representing a strong 16-percent growth rate versus year ago," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "While we saw three more days during the week with at least $800 million in spending, growth rates slowed to single-digit levels following several weeks at about 13 percent. We believe this softening is attributable to retailers' heavy discounting and promotional activity during the earlier part of the holiday season [through Cyber Monday], which pulled some consumer demand forward, resulting in a mild hangover effect in the days immediately following Cyber Monday. We may see another week of this effect before late season discounts and buying by procrastinators gives the season a final spending surge."