E-commerce growth has declined for five consecutive months in the U.S., according to the marketing research firm comScore Inc. Spending in some product categories has actually shrunk.
Online sales grew 6% overall during the third quarter. That’s down from a 13% rate of rate in the second quarter and a 12% rate of growth in the first quarter, compared to the same quarters in 2007.
The rate of online sales growth for September at 5% was the lowest since comScore began tracking e-commerce sales in 2001.
Third quarter online retail sales were approximately $30 billion, excluding travel services, according to comScore.
Sales for apparel and accessories declined by 2% in the third quarter, compared to the same quarter in 2007. Similarly, sales in the toys and hobbies category dipped 3%.
The steepest e-commerce sales declines in the third quarter were for jewelry and watches (down 11%) and the combined category for music, movies and videos (down 29%).
A separate comScore study found that text-messaging advertising for apparel products in Europe grew 38% over the last year. It noted a shift in text messaging advertising for mainly mobile electronic products to more general consumer merchandise. That study tracked trends in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
