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Index sees increase in online spendingNov 24, 2009 (The Dallas Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Online shoppers so far in November are spending more than last year but are buying fewer or lower-priced items, according to Dallas-based Chase Paymentech's 2009 Holiday Pulse Index. The index, released Monday, is an early indication that consumers are willing to spend this year in moderation. Sales volume is up a healthy 9.2 percent over the same period in 2008 as more shoppers buy online, said Aaron Press, director of market analysis for Chase Paymentech. Transactions also are up dramatically, with an increase of 22.9 percent. But the average checkout total is 12.5 percent below 2008, Press said. On Sunday, the average credit card transaction was $43. The Pulse Index tracks online sales from November through January, based on sales by 50 of the largest online sites selected from Internet Retailer magazine's Top 500 list. Last year, the index was one of the first indicators to notice that shoppers were pulling back spending online. This year, Forrester Research forecast an 8 percent rise in online holiday spending. Last year, online holiday sales measured by the index rose a modest 4.5 percent. Chase Paymentech is the largest processor of Internet payment transactions, ahead of PayPal and Cybersource. Its volume represents more than half of all Internet payment transactions, or an average of 500 per second. The index will track over 1 million payment transactions daily. It will be updated every day at 1 p.m. at pulse.chasepaymentech.com/. To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Dallas Morning News Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |