comScore E-Commerce Sales Data

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported growth of 24.6 percent for the full year 2005 versus 2004. Adjusting for differences in product categories measured*, comScore data showed growth of 23.8 percent during the same period to $83.3 billion in non-travel sales.

During the fourth quarter of 2005 growth estimates for online sales differed considerably depending on the source, with some research company estimates projecting total online growth as high as 30 percent or more. However, comScore's reported 23.2 percent growth for the fourth quarter was virtually identical to the Department of Commerce's estimate of 23.4 percent overall growth for the same period.

"Due to the divergent reports of online sales growth during the important 2005 holiday shopping season, there was some uncertainty in the marketplace over which estimate was the most accurate," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Networks. "With data from the Department of Commerce once again mirroring comScore's online sales trends, this reaffirms comScore as the industry standard for accurate e-commerce measurement. Over the past five years, comScore data has, time and again, proven to be by far the most accurate measure of consumers' online behavior."

"We analyze diverse data from hundreds of research sources, but comScore consistently nails the consumer e-commerce numbers," said Geoffrey Ramsey, CEO and co-founder of eMarketer. "It's encouraging to know how close comScore's numbers line up with Department of Commerce data."

In 2005, Apparel & Accessories ranked as the fastest growing category, with a 41-percent increase versus the previous year. Other rapidly growing categories included Computer Software (up 37 percent), Toys & Hobbies (up 35 percent), Home & Garden (up 33 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (up 31 percent).

"During the fourth quarter of 2005, industry observers had been puzzled by one published report that showed computer hardware and consumer electronics growing at rates in excess of 100 percent versus last year," said Fulgoni. "It's clear from the comScore data, which shows Apparel as the fastest growing category (up 41 percent), that established category growth rates in excess of 100 percent were simply untenable in 2005."

Rather than asking consumers to try to recall all of the details of their past purchases (which few consumers are able to do in an accurate manner), comScore's sales data are based on the passive, electronic measurement of the actual online browsing and buying activity of a representative cross-section of more than 2 million Internet users. These consumers have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and buying behavior using comScore's proprietary data collection technology. The buying activity of this massive sample is measured at more than 50,000 online merchants and other commerce sites across the Web and then statistically projected to represent the entire online marketplace.