Electronics, Apparel, and Sporting Goods See Big Online Sales Gains

A comScore Networks report shows robust online retail sales growth for the third quarter. All online retail was up 23 percent, but consumer electronics showed 42 percent growth over the same period a year ago. Apparel rose 32 percent, and the Sports & Fitness category was up 29 percent.

Consumer electronics (CE) is a big retail sales segment for both online purchases and at traditional brick & mortar stores. A new study by Yahoo demonstrates the importance of online research for people making electronic purchases. The study titled, “Understanding How Consumers Use the Internet to Research and Shop for CE Products,” reveals 77 percent of transactions were influenced by online research. For big-ticket items such as televisions, consumers spent an average of 12 hours on the Internet looking for information before they purchased.