When research firm comScore Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) reported holiday online spending a week ago, the company noted a 14% rise in sales. Five days later that increase has dropped slightly to 13%. The decline was not unexpected, but the dip puts in jeopardy comScore’s forecast for a rise of about 17% in e-commerce spending for the entire holiday season.

The company’s chairman noted:

Despite posting three consecutive billion-dollar spending days and five in excess of $950 million, this past week saw a noticeable softening in e-commerce momentum as growth rates dipped into single-digits after beginning the season in the mid-teens. However, we expect this lull to be a temporary effect having more to do with the extended shopping calendar this year with two additional shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, rather than weakening consumer fundamentals. This upcoming week led by Green Monday is likely to be the heaviest online spending week in history with a realistic chance of delivering five billion-dollar days.

Green Monday, so named when it was believed that a mid-December Monday was the heaviest online shopping day of the season, was yesterday. Last year, Green Monday sales rose 19% year-over-year and comScore reckoned that the day’s sales totaled $1.1 billion. Sales figures for yesterday are not available yet.

Paul Ausick

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