US e-commerce bounces back in April

Shoppers in the US spent $32.8bn online in the first quarter of 2008

Online sales in the US rebounded in April following a relatively slow March, according to the latest figures from comScore.

The market watcher said that, excluding auctions, vehicles and large corporate purchases, year-over-year growth grew to 15 per cent after an increase of just nine per cent in March.

E-commerce in the US has enjoyed double-digit year-on-year growth every month over the past year with the exception of March, ranging from 12 per cent in January to 28 per cent in August.

"While the e-commerce growth rates in 2008 are softer than last year's, it is encouraging that April's growth rate represented an increase from an obviously soft March for online consumer spending," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore.

"We hope that April will emerge as the beginning of a turnaround in the consumer economy, and that spending will accelerate as we move through the year and as the impact of the government's tax rebate programme begins to be felt."

Shoppers in the US spent $32.8bn online in the first quarter of 2008 showing steady growth over the same period in previous years, but down from $42bn spent during the fourth quarter of 2007.