Posted by Shawna Seigel

comScore, Inc.(NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Q1 2010  U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending neared $34 billion for the quarter, up 10 percent versus year ago. The strong acceleration represented the first time growth rates reached double-digits since the second quarter of 2008.

“The first quarter returned the U.S. retail e-commerce market to healthy double-digit growth rates,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “While these spending gains provide reason for optimism, we should note that upper-income households are currently shouldering much of the growth. Should the economy falter in the second half of the year and upper-income consumers return to a savings mode, we could still see growth decelerate. But for the time being, this momentum is encouraging.”

Other highlights from Q1 include:

• Growth in the first quarter was predominantly driven by upper-income consumers, with spending among the $100,000+ household income segment up 14 percent.
• Pureplay (online-only) retailers continued to gain e-commerce spending market share from multichannel retailers.
• Larger online retailers continued to generate higher growth rates than smaller retailers, but the smaller retailers are finally beginning to see positive growth once again.

Webinar Series: State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy through Q1 2010

Join Mr. Fulgoni as he presents an update of the state of the U.S. online retail economy through Q1 2010 in a live webinar on Thursday, May 27 at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.

The webinar presentation will include an overview of changes in consumers’ online spending patterns through Q1 2010, survey findings that highlight consumer sentiments regarding the economy, as well as an analysis of spending patterns across key product categories, retailer sectors and consumer demographic segments.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 8:30 am and is filed under News, Online Retail. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the Author: Shawna Seigel is the founder and CEO of 1Choice4YourStore, an authorized Yahoo! Merchant Solutions Developer and the host of the Yahoo Store Power Hour. Shawna has been building Yahoo! Stores since 2000 when she started her first store as a single mom with two children working out of her living room. Today she has an office with over 25 employees dedicated to helping store owners build, grow and succeed with their ecommerce stores.Check out the 1 Choice Blog for tips, free e-books, and more!