Ecommerce suffers another losing quarter

Retail ecommerce spending has fallen for only the second quarter since internet metrics firm comScore began collecting data.

Overall sales fell one per cent in the second quarter of 2009, at US$20.2bn, after showing zero growth in the first quarter and dropping three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

“The marginally negative growth in Q2, on the heels of flat growth in Q1, signals that online retail spending has yet to turn the corner after a disappointing end to last year,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

“Unfortunately, it appears that the reality of nearly 10-percent unemployment and rising gas prices, coupled with an increased savings rate, continues to hold down consumers’ discretionary spending and it may still take some time to dig our way out of this recession.”

Spending on toys and hobbies showed the strongest growth, at 21 percent year on year, followed by books and video games.

The continuing weakness in the ecommerce market is worrying both for retailers but also for developers and sellers of ecommerce systems.

Investment in the sector has stalled as companies cut back on new platform development.