America Online retail sales jump 67% in 2001

Cyberbiz Brief

By MARC GRASER

America Online, the world’s largest Internet services provider said Wednesday that online retail purchases by AOL members in 2001 jumped 67 % to more than $33 billion compared to 2000.

The company said fourth-quarter member spending climbed to a record $11 billion, up 72% from the prior-year quarter, and was capped by $7.2 billion in on-line spending during the 2001 holiday season.

AOL said the top retail categories for the holiday season remained women’s and teens’ apparel.

Last week, America Online said its worldwide membership surpassed 33 million subs, pinning the growth to its new AOL 7.0 software and the launch of high-speed service over cable television lines in some markets.

AOL on Wednesday said females accounted for 64% of all shopping; 79% of its members shopped online during the last six months, with 91% planning addi-tional online purchases in the next six months.

The news follows reports last week that Internet portal Yahoo! saw holiday sales surge 86% between Thanksgiving and Christmas, over the same period in 2000. Comscore Networks, which tracks e-tail activity estimates that online shoppers spent $10 billion to $10.25 billion for the fourth quarter, excluding travel and auction sales.