Online Sales Fall

[pennypinch]

Not only are the major retailers and small business's that we visit frequently hurting but so are online business's. According to ComScore, an online sales tracker, online sales fell for the first time in seven years.

This year, online shoppers spent $24.03 billion during the critical Holiday shopping period between November and December compared to last years $24.15 billion. That is down by 1%.

An analyst with ComScore, Andrew Lipsman said this is the first time they have recorded a drop in sales in seven years since 2001.

They are crediting this with the jobless rate, bad economy and consumers diminishing personal savings.

Many business's, whether online or not, are having to close their doors or file for bankruptcy. These include Circuit City and Linens 'N Things.

[carol b]

I also think that fewer people have credit cards. If you don't have a credit card or an account with pay pal you can't really buy anything online. I also saw a report that said that in most cases you didn't really save money purchasing certain items online because of shipping costs.

[ClassyLady]

If you purchase online, you can always find deals that has FREE shipping and handling. That is what I did.