E-Commerce Health Is in the Eye of the Beholder

November 6, 2009 at 5:00 am PT

Depending on whom you ask, U.S. online shopping is either in unprecedented decline–or one of the only bright spots in American retail.

On Thursday, comScore (SCOR) reported that U.S. online spending in the third quarter slipped two percent to $29.6 billion versus last year. That represents the first time since comScore began tracking the figures that online spending has shrunk for two quarters in a row. (Online shopping was flat in the first quarter, and slipped one percent in the second quarter.) ComScore was slightly more upbeat about the potential of growth in the fourth quarter, if only because we’ll be comparing it to last year’s dismal fourth quarter.

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Tagged with: comScore, digital, Digits, e-commerce, econalypse, economy, frontpage, Geoffrey A. Fowler, Internet, online shopping, retail, The Wall Street Journal

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