Online spending during the week ending on December 2nd totalled nearly $6 billion according to comScore, setting a new single-week record. The market research firm on Sunday released its estimates for online spending so far during the holiday shopping season, and it is reporting significant year-on-year increases across the board. Total spending between November 1st and December 2nd is up 15% over 2010 to $18.7 billion and Cyber Week spending also grew 15% to approximately $6 billion. Online shopping on Thanksgiving day grew 18% to $479 million, Black Friday sales online were up 26% to $816 million and Cyber Monday sales grew 22% to $1.3 billion. ”Cyber Monday kicked the week off with a bang as consumers opened their wallets to the tune of $1.25 billion, but it was only the beginning of a very strong week of online holiday spending,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. “Tuesday and Wednesday followed with billion dollar spending days, helping Cyber Week reach a record weekly total of nearly $6 billion in spending.” ComScore’s full press release follows below.

$6 Billion in ‘Cyber Week’ U.S. Online Spending Sets New Weekly Record as Three Individual Days Surpass $1 Billion Threshold

Free Shipping Incentive Used on Nearly Two-Thirds of Online Transactions During Most Recent Two Weeks

RESTON, VA, December 4, 2011 – comScore (NASDAQ : SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 32 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $18.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 15-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw three individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.25 billion. Tuesday, November 29 reached $1.12 billion, while Wednesday, November 30 reached $1.03 billion. These three billion dollar spending days currently rank as three of the four heaviest online spending days in history (with Cyber Monday 2010 being the other).

2011 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2010	2011	Percent Change
November 1 – December 2	$16,257	$18,697	15%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24)	$407	$479	18%
Black Friday (Nov. 25)	$648	$816	26%
Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 26-27)	$886	$1,031	16%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 28)	$1,028	$1,251	22%
Week Ending Dec. 2	$5,164	$5,959	15%

*Corresponding days based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 3, 2010)

“Cyber Monday kicked the week off with a bang as consumers opened their wallets to the tune of $1.25 billion, but it was only the beginning of a very strong week of online holiday spending,� said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Tuesday and Wednesday followed with billion dollar spending days, helping Cyber Week reach a record weekly total of nearly $6 billion in spending. As the deals from this week expire, it will be important to see the degree to which consumers return to the same retailers to continue their holiday shopping, thereby helping improve retailers’ profit margins, or if we experience a pullback in consumer spending – which has occurred in previous years – before promotional offers and spending intensity pick back up in earnest around mid-December.�

Free Shipping Surges to Record Levels

One of the most prevalent holiday season promotions used by online retailers is free shipping, which typically peaks around the Cyber Monday period. comScore’s analysis of the incidence of free shipping used for online retail transactions shows that this incentive is being used at record levels over the first few weeks of the holiday season. Throughout the 2011 holiday season, more than half of all transactions have included free shipping with rates increasing later into the season. The week of Thanksgiving (week ending Nov. 27) saw free shipping occur on 64.4 percent of transactions, while Cyber Week has maintained a similar level at 63.2 percent. In each case, these rates were approximately 10 percentage points higher than last year.

Weekly Holiday Free Shipping Analysis vs. Corresponding Weeks* in 2010 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
Week Ending	Percentage of Transactions with Free Shipping
	2010	2011	Point Change
11/6/2011	41.8%	52.2%	+10.4
11/13/2011	44.7%	51.2%	+6.5
11/20/2011	50.2%	56.0%	+5.8
11/27/2011	55.0%	64.4%	+9.4
12/4/2011**	52.2%	63.2%	+11.0

*Corresponding weeks based on corresponding shopping days (November 2 thru December 5, 2010)
**Data based on partial week of data thru Dec. 2, 2011

“Free shipping is one of the most important incentives that online retailers must provide during the holiday season to ensure that shoppers will convert into buyers,� added Mr. Fulgoni. “Consumers have come to expect free shipping during the holiday promotion periods, and retailers, in turn, have realized that they must offer this incentive if they want to maximize their share of consumer spending – especially at the outset of the shopping season. In fact, more than three-quarters of consumers say that free shipping is important to them when making an online purchase, and nearly half say they will abandon their shopping cart at checkout if they find free shipping is not being offered.�

The Importance of Free Shipping to Online Shoppers

As part of comScore’s annual holiday shopping survey of consumers, approximately 1,000 Internet users were asked about the importance of free shipping to their online purchase decisions. More than one-third of respondents (36 percent) indicated that free shipping was “very important� and that they would not make a purchase without it, underscoring the imperative for retailers to offer this incentive during the holidays. An additional 42 percent said that free shipping was “somewhat important� and that they actively seek out free shipping deals. Only 15 percent of respondents indicated that free shipping was not particularly influential in their purchase decision.

Q: “When making a purchase online this holiday season, which of the following statements best describes how important free shipping is to you?� November 29-December 1, 2011, n=1,013 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore 2011 Holiday Survey
Response	Percentage of Respondents
Very important – I will not make a purchase without it	36%
Somewhat important – I actively seek out free shipping deals	42%
Neither important nor unimportant – I would like to find it, but do not require it	12%
Somewhat unimportant – free shipping has very little effect on my purchase decision	1%
Very unimportant – I will make my purchase regardless of shipping costs	2%
Don’t know/not sure	6%

Despite its cost to retailers, free shipping also has a couple of important benefits to online retailers. First, it tends to generate higher average order values, which helps retailers to at least partially offset lower margins. Second, this incentive has for four years had its own marketing event – ‘Free Shipping Day’ (Friday, December 16 this year) – when thousands of merchants offer free shipping with delivery by Christmas Eve, and in past years Free Shipping Day has helped bolster online spending activity later into the season. Last year’s Free Shipping Day, for example, was the third heaviest online spending day of the year at $942 million, representing a dramatic 61 percent increase over the corresponding shopping day the previous year

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of food and kinship and gluttony. But that also means a big step backward in your battle against the bulge (in your waistline—because you are quite fat). But don't worry! Here are a few tips to make sure you more or less still fit in your clothes once the holiday's over. More »

By now you're probably either done or in the process of stuffing your stomach to the point of a hospital visit. Us too. This Thanksgiving, we're more thankful than ever to have you along with us. You, and this stuff: More »

By now you're probably either done or in the process of stuffing your stomach to the point of a hospital visit. Us too. This Thanksgiving, we're more thankful than ever to have you along with us. You, and this stuff: More »

Need something to do while your loved ones slave over hot stoves and turkey platters? Microsoft and Bing have got your back, offering gamers another free Xbox Live Gold weekend to help you frag your way through the holiday. Of course, if you're feeling too sedentary to twitch your thumbs, you can always veg out with your Netflix queue or use the console's ESPN app to get your traditional Thanksgiving sports fix. Either way, you're golden until the 27th -- after that, you'll need to pony up and subscribe. Don't have an Xbox 360, you say? We hear there are some deals floating around that might help you fix that.

Bing brings the holiday gold, offers free Xbox Live preview for Thanksgiving weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re unfortunate enough to be sitting at your in-laws wearing that itchy sweater you hate so much, at least we have you covered with a few games to get you through the night. EA and Gameloft have a huge sale going on and both are offering most titles for just $0.99. Gameloft has Starfront: Collision, Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden, Shrek Kart and dozens more up for grabs, each for just a dollar. In addition, EA has Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 for iPad, The Sims: Medieval and much, much more for just $0.99 a piece. That’s the same price as a McChicken, but so much more rewarding — and none of us should be thinking about more food right now.

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As Queen's front-man, Freddie Mercury's overpowering vocals, four-octave range, and thundering stage presence couldn't be ignored. As a high-profile victim of the US AIDS epidemic, his death on Thanksgiving Day, 1991 couldn't be ignored either. Tonight's Soundtrack honors Mr. Fahrenheit and marks the 20th anniversary of his passing. More »

I love Thanksgiving. Turkey. Cranberry Sauce. Stuffing. Everything and anything at dinner, to be honest. I love the colors. Orange, brown, it's perfect for that fall spirit. I love football, there's no other holiday associated with sports as much as Thanksgiving is. I love playing football, it's the only time I put on cleats any more. I love seeing old friends and getting drunk and reminiscing about old stories because everyone is back in town again. I love how the work week is cut in half (and really, cut even more because everyone checks out by tuesday) because of Thanksgiving. More »

No, you aren't "losing" that thing up top -- Walmart will indeed be bringing those limited edition blue Wiis to the US of A starting this Thursday, and better still, it'll be hawking 'em for just $99.96 apiece. If you'll recall, the powder blue variants of Nintendo's newest home console were previously reserved for other sections of the globe, but a new spot that just aired on CBS' broadcast of the Titans vs. Falcons has confirmed that it'll be on sale within a matter of days for those lucky enough to snag one. They'll be offered up starting at 10:00PM on November 24th (that's Thanksgiving day, you know) and should be completely sold out by 10:00:01PM on the same day. That tally will net you a console, a matching Wii Remote Plus and a Nunchuk. Good luck -- pack a helmet.

P.S. - Black Thursday is the new Black Friday.

Walmart selling Limited Edition Blue Wii for $99.96 on Black Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, this certainly seems like a no-brainer for PayPal. The company just launched a Facebook app that lets you send money to anyone on your friends list, with the usual list of terms and conditions in tow. After logging into Facebook and authorizing the app, you'll be able to use PayPal to transfer funds to individuals that you're connected with (who also have PayPal accounts, of course), adding a layer of security to the notoriously fraud-laden online payment service.

Payments are free to send and receive, but only if they're funded using a bank account with both parties in the U.S. Want to use a credit or debit card instead? PayPal will collect 2.9 percent (either from the sender or recipient), with a 30-cent processing fee to boot. And if you're sending funds abroad, fees range from 0.5 to 3.9 percent, depending on a variety of factors. A rather comprehensive collection of e-cards helps soften the blow if a fee applies, and includes selections for just about every occasion. Fourth of July coming up? Let's top up that fireworks fund. So dig up those account and routing numbers and get ready to stick some virtual cash in a virtual card -- just one week 'til Thanksgiving!

PayPal Facebook app lets you send money and greetings to friends, only takes 2.9-percent cut of your 'free' e-card originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You worked damn hard on your Jack-O-Lantern and nobody's going to make you move it until that pumpkin is a pile of Thanksgiving mush—especially not some infernal squirrel who's nibbling it for winter sustenance. More »

Apple will launch its next-generation iPhone smartphone during the second week of September, China Times reported on Wednesday. Apple is said to have an initial order of 4 million iPhone 5 handsets on order for launch, plus another 400,000 units being manufactured now as part of a trial run. The same report states that the wait for Apple’s next iPad may be longer than expected, however, due to component shortages. Apple is reportedly now aiming to release the iPad 3 some time around the Thanksgiving holiday in November — which could make for a Black Friday nightmare the likes of which haven’t been seen in years. The iPhone 5 launch timing reported by China Times lines up well with BGR’s exclusive report suggesting the next-generation Apple smartphone would become available from AT&T in early or mid-September.

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Today's Thanksgiving, and a whole bunch of people are going to just toss a frozen turkey willy-nilly into a deep fryer, film the exploding fireball that results, and post it on YouTube. (For which we, of course, are very thankful.) More »

This Thanksgiving weekend, Nokia fans are thankful for a first glimpse at an unannounced Nokia smartphone that appears poised to attack multimedia head on. The Nokia X7-00 has been captured on film showing off a sleek body and a set of not two, but four speakers. In light of Nokia’s new allegiance with Dolby, we assume this puppy also sports some pretty sweet surround sound capabilities. The device runs Symbian, albeit a bit slowly when cycling through home screens (calm down, it’s definitely not running a release build of the OS), and reportedly features specs in line with the Nokia N8. Nokia’s relatively new Xseries focuses on music, and it looks like the X7-00 will be the Finnish giant’s most intense music phone yet. Expect more soon, and hit the jump for a video of the X7-00 in action.

Thanks, Daniel!

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Originally announced at CES in January, Silicon Dust's entrance into the encrypted cable TV tuner market just reached an important milestone on its way to market: CableLabs Certification -- anytime CableLabs is involved things take longer than anyone expects. The price of the three tuner HDHomeRun Prime is still set at $249, but the hope of being released by the "holidays" seems lost (Thanksgiving counts as one of those days right?). Said product is expected to start production in the next few weeks, after which you'll be able to pre-order the elusive tuner from major retailers. The big question of course is with the Ceton InfiniTV 4 still on a three month backorder, and selling on eBay for over twice its retail price, which should you order? We suggest you pre-order get both just be safe; worst case you end up on the good side of a crazy eBay auction.

HDHomeRun Prime CableCARD tri-tuner comes one step closer to reality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have you been riding the OnLive bangwagon from the start? If so, you'll want to heed this little Thanksgiving note from the company, which is offering a free MicroConsole to its early cloud gaming service users -- whom it dubs Founding Members -- provided they've bought licenses for at least two games in their time. The diminutive TV adapter typically costs $99, but qualifying Members will be able to get it for free if they pre-order it now, though they will have to spring for covering delivery costs. As to the more timid among you who only ever bought the one PlayPass, OnLive will let you have a free Full PlayPass (equivalent to a free game) in the place of the hardware. So, whichever way you slice it, it's good to be first.

OnLive giving thanks to its Founding Members with free MicroConsoles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Nov 2010 02:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Netflix, then Hulu Plus, and now VUDU. The movie rental service is making its way onto PlayStation 3 just in time for Thanksgiving later this month -- November 23rd, to be exact. If you're familiar with Walmart's recently-acquired video service, you know the drill: on-demand HD titles streamed for a fee, up to 1080p and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound. The interface will be the same as every other VUDU iteration -- until mid-December, that is. That's when, as we've been told, the company plans to roll out version 2.0 of its UI. In addition to being more streamlined, there's ratings, recommendations, and most interestingly, support for PS3's Move controller. Pictures below, press releases after the break.

Continue reading VUDU hits PS3 on November 23rd, UI overhaul coming mid-December

VUDU hits PS3 on November 23rd, UI overhaul coming mid-December originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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