A study by Goldman Sachs reported that home Internet users spent an estimated $1.04 billion during the final week of the holiday shopping season. That represents a $540 million drop from the holiday season'speak week (which was $1.6 billion, the prior week). Goldman Sachs'figures brought the total online holiday spending, since the first week of November, to $9.8 billion – more than twice the $4.7 billionthat consumers spent online during the comparable time period in 1999.
Electronics led all categories in spending in the final week, as online users spent over $118 million for last-minute purchases.
“Despite disappointing reports from some Internet online retailers, online spending growth was healthy during the holidays,” said Cameron Meierhoefer, Internet analyst for PC Data (which participated with Goldman Sachs on the survey). “While many Internet retailers enjoyed a strong holiday season, this may have come at the expense of other pure-play e-tailers who needed to exceed expectations this year.”