Online Retail Spending Increases in March 2009, Reports Coremetrics

Heath & Beauty Glows; Sporting Gear Slows

SAN MATEO, Calif.– Online retail registered an encouraging increase in ecommerce activity in March 2009 compared to February 2009 (month over month) according to Coremetrics, the leading provider of online marketing and business optimization solutions.

Consumers who shopped online in March purchased nearly 12.0 percent more items compared to the previous month, while the average dollar value increased by more than 4.0 percent, suggesting that not only were consumers buying more items online, they were actually spending more money on average than they had just the
month before.

Unsurprisingly, year-over-year retail metrics for March remain down across the board compared to March 2008. The average number of items per order, average order value and shopping cart conversion all fell significantly—8.1 percent, 6.3 percent and 3.4 percent respectively—compared to March 2008.

“The constant barrage of bleak economic news essentially wore consumers out earlier in the year. But in March, as the stock markets started to show some signs of life, consumers regained a measure of confidence about their purchasing power,” said John Squire, chief strategy officer for Coremetrics. “We’re seeing online purchasing behavior that is strongly tied to consumer attitudes about the bigger economic picture, and the best retailers out there are finding ways to appeal to consumers who are spending their money more thoughtfully.”

Results-at-a-Glance

* Health and beauty retailers were big winners in March, with the average number of items per order increasing by 6.9 percent and the average dollar value of their orders increasing by 5.3 percent. Furthermore, consumer engagement with these sites, measured by page views per session and the average time they spent on sites, rose by 3.2 and 12.0 percent respectively from February.
* Jewelry retailers also reported marked increases in the average number of items per order and their corresponding average dollar value, which rose by 13.8 and 13.4 percent respectively.
* Intimate apparel retailers reported flat to slightly positive results in the average number of items per order and their corresponding average dollar value, which rose by 0.2 and 0.3 percent respectively, while page views (1.4 percent) and average time on site (2.0 percent) rose slightly.
* Sports apparel and gear spending was slightly down, with the average number of items per order decreasing by nearly 2 percent while the average dollar value of their orders decreased by 1.3 percent. Furthermore, consumer engagement with these sites, measured by page views per session and the average time they spent on sites, decreased by 10.8 and 1.0 percent respectively from February.

Read the Coremetrics March 2009 Benchmark Report in PDF.

Source
These findings are based on data from Coremetrics Benchmark™, the industry’s only peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including commerce data, against those of the competition. More than 300 leading U.S. retailers, representing approximately $15 billion in revenues annually, contribute their analytics data to Benchmark. All data is aggregated and anonymized. Abercrombie & Fitch, Alibris, Bloomingdale’s, Coldwater Creek, L’OCCITANE, Macy’s, PETCO and REI are just a few of the participating companies.