Paying a ton of money to put gas in your car is no fun, make no mistake about it. But there does seem to be one positive side-effect of rising fuel prices lately: they’re boosting online sales substantially.
Online spending increased 19.2 percent year over year in April according to the latest MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report, marking a sixth consecutive month of double-digit e-commerce growth.
The strong April showing follows up March’s 16.1 percent year over year increase in e-commerce spending, which was also widely believed to be high due to the increased costs of gas that are forcing many Americans to curtail trips to the mall and shop from home instead. It’s a trend that MasterCard expects to continue in the near future.
“We can expect consumers to make fewer shopping trips, especially on weekends, and this may contribute to an ever stronger growth for e-commerce,” says Michael McNamara, vice president, research and analysis for SpendingPulse.
Quite a few individual sectors saw solid increases during the month of April:
–Online shoe sales were up 20 percent year over year;
–Online sales of women’s apparel increased by 15 percent, making it two straight months that saw jumps of at least 15 percent in that particular category. Total apparel sales, including those in brick and mortar stores, was up 10.4 percent;
–Consumer electronics bought online also grew 9.1 percent, for an eighth consecutive month of growth. Overall electronics and appliance sales, including brick and mortar purchases, actually declined 1.8 percent in April;
–Overall luxury sales had a seventh consecutive month of growth, up 9.6% year over year.
As always, MasterCard bases its SpendingPulse reports on retail sales using all payment forms, including credit and debit cards of all brands, cash and checks, in its network.
Leave us your thoughts and comments on another strong month for e-commerce sales!
