WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (Chinese media) -- Online sales held up better than the rest of the retail market during the dismal holiday period, but the season is still likely to go down as one of the worst on record for the traditionally booming e-commerce sector, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
While online spending was down just 2 percent from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve compared with a drop of 5.5 percent to 8 percent for retail as a whole, e-commerce strength wasn't widespread.
Instead, it was clustered around several big-name Web sites such as Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.. Online sales were also fueled by discounts that aren't likely to continue.
Overall, in a sector where sales have historically increased 20percent annually, this is the first holiday season where online sales haven't grown. E-commerce sales were "not amazing by any stretch," says John Aiken, managing director and head of equity research for Majestic Research.
According to the report, those that played the discount and promotions game won big during the season. Amazon.com, for one, on Friday said sales for the holiday season were its "best ever" due in part to promotions.
The tactic helped boost the number of visitors to the site between early November and mid-December by 6 percent.
"We were heads-down focused on providing customers low prices this year," says Graig Berman, a spokesman for Amazon.
He declined to comment on how much sales grew or whether there was a corresponding jump in profit pending the Seattle company's quarterly earnings in January.
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