by Doug Desjardins
While traditional retailers are celebrating a meager increase in holiday sales, online retailers are basking in the glow of a double-digit increase that most analysts didn't expect. 
Using clever online promotions and taking advantage of a pre-Christmas blizzard on the East Coast, e-commerce retailers reported a 15.5 percent increase in sales from Thanksgiving to Dec. 24, according to MasterCard's RetailPulse survey. Retail sales jumped sharply in nearly every major category and big box retailers reported a surge in Internet traffic and sales, according to e-commerce research firm comScore.
Wal-Mart led the way, reporting 46.2 million hits at its website in November alone, a 62 percent increase over 2008. Target was a distant second with 38.8 million November visitors, a 43 percent increase over last year, and Sears Holdings generated 19 million hits at its site, a 36 percent increase.
ComScore chief strategy officer John Squire said big box retailers got holiday sales rolling by making Black Friday a month-long event and promoting weekly sales online as well as in stores. "This year, we saw retailers break tradition by turning Black Friday from a one-day event into a month-long event with 'screen busters' in addition to door busters," said Squire. ComScore reported that online sales increased 5 percent for the holiday season from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24.
One of the biggest winners of the season was Amazon.com. The online retail pioneer reached several milestones during the holidays, including its busiest single day in history on Dec. 14 when it sold 9.5 million items. It also reported strong sales of the Kindle e-reader and said that it sold more e-books on Christmas Day than regular books for the first time in its history.
Online retailers also received high marks from customers. According to research firm ForSee Results, Amazon was the top pick in its Customer Satisfaction Survey with a record score of 87 out of 100. Other winners include Macys.com, which scored 13 points higher than it did in 2008 with a score of 79, and Gap.com, which improved 10 points with a score of 76. ForSee president Larry Freed said it was no surprise to see major retailers posting the biggest gains in customer satisfaction.
"In the economic environment we live in today, where prices continue to be important, the larger retailers have more people and financial resources to focus on continuing improvement," said Freed. "For that reason, mid-size retailers will find it harder (to compete), especially in this economy."
Resources
This Holiday Season, Web Sales are Retailers' Biggest Gift
Department Store Web Sites See Large Traffic Increase, says comScore
Holiday Online Spending Grew 5 Percent in 2009
Kindle Sales Set Amazon Ablaze
Customers Give B E-Tail Big Love in Holiday Satisfaction Survey
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