Chase Paymentech: Online Shopping Strength To The End

The holiday season has come to a close and it has been another record season for 50 of the leading U.S. online merchants that are part of Chase Paymentech's Cyber Holiday Pulse Index. For the period of November 1st to December 31st, 2011, transactions were up 37 percent, sales rose 25 percent, and average tickets declined 9 percent year over year. For the full month of December, transactions were up 35 percent and sales were up 22 percent versus December 2010.

Chase Paymentech attributes this growth to three primary drivers. First, the ongoing secular shift to e-commerce. Second, and more specific to the holiday season, promotional activity was especially active this year, attracting more online shoppers with email and online coupons and discounts. Third, the shift to digital media is moving a large number of transactions online.

Online shoppers made the most of the final days, driving transactions and sales higher right up to the last minute. With December 25th falling on a Sunday this year, merchants were able to offer guaranteed shipping later into the week, giving consumers extra time to make online purchases. Shopping resumed on Monday, December 26th as consumers took advantage of post-holiday deals, redeemed gift cards, and filled their new digital devices with media.

The Pulse Index provides an inside look at consumer online shopping trends for the key shopping days Black Friday and Cyber Monday and throughout the holiday shopping season. The Index presents aggregated daily payment processing activity for 50 of the leading U.S. online retailers— measuring payment transactions, dollar volume and average ticket value— giving an almost real-time snapshot of year-over-year ecommerce growth. The data is taken directly from Chase Paymentech's market leading processing platform and updated every business day.

By analyzing the actual payment activity for 50 top ecommerce retailers, the Pulse Index is a valuable tool for spotting several key online shopping trends. For example, the index has demonstrated a trend toward smaller average ticket values over the past few years. While it's clear that the recession drove that trend for a couple of seasons, last year the data linked smaller tickets to the growing demand for digital media such as music and, more recently, ebooks.

The Pulse Index is updated with online shopping statistics every business day throughout the holiday period, from November 1, 2011 through January 6, 2012. Insights, analysis and commentary will be provided weekly online. For more information, visit http://pulse.chasepaymentech.com.

About Chase Paymentech
Paymentech, LLC ("Chase Paymentech"), a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), is a leading provider of payment processing and merchant acquiring. The company's proprietary platforms enable integrated solutions for all payment types, including credit, debit, prepaid stored value and electronic check processing; as well as digital, alternative and mobile payment options. Chase Paymentech has uniquely combined proven payment technology with a long legacy of merchant advocacy that creates quantifiable value for companies large and small. In 2011, Chase Paymentech processed 24.4 billion transactions with a value of $553.7B, including an estimated half of all global Internet transactions. In addition to the ability to authorize transactions in more than 130 currencies, the company provides business analytics and information services, fraud detection and data security solutions. For more information, visit www.chasepaymentech.com.

SOURCE: Chase Paymentech