E-Commerce Update

• 75% of retailers that have online sales divisions reported online sales increases of 10% or more during the first 2 weeks of November, compared to the same period last year.

• Post-Thanksgiving online sales continued a strong pace. ComScore.Net (based in Reston, VA) reported that Internet shoppers spent $151 million on the Friday after Thanksgiving, excluding travel and auction sales, up 40% from the same day last year. Another consulting firm, BizRate.com, reported an even higher estimate for the same day, with online sales topping $234 million, a 61% increase over last year. Either way it spells good news for retailers.

• Gartner Dataquest estimates that almost 30% of U.S. households who access the Internet are now doing so via high-speed connections such as cable modems or DSL. Between February 2000 and June, 2002, high-speed Internet usage nearly tripled. "Neither the economic slowdown nor the relatively high price points have slowed adoption," said Gartner analyst Margaret Schoener to CBS MarketWatch.com.