While nearly every brick-and-mortar retailer in the country was fighting record drops in same-store sales, e-commerce held its own in the first quarter. Some categories actually showed sharp increases in activity lead by sports and fitness, video games, and computer sofware.
comScore also reported that in the first quarter a year ago e-commerce revenue rose 11%. In the same quarter in 2007, the increase was 17%.
Why did e-commerce outperform sales in physical stores? The easy answer is that online shopping has been growing faster for years. In a recession, that reason may not be adequate, or accurate.
One likely explanation is the comparison shopping for price is easier online. Another is the, in many cases, shipping is free while driving from store-to-store is not
It says a great deal about the economy when “flat” performance is considered good.
Douglas A. McIntyre