The holidays are over and U.S. online-research-heads are assessing the, er, damage. Entering into the season last Fall, all indicators foretold what we now hear out of comScore:  e-commerce grew a healthy 19 percent this year (good news) but growth is slowing (the glory days have ended), and the growth was even shy of the 20 percent predicted. We see the same trend from our Netpop data with online shopping behavior inching up only slightly from last year. People are shopping more and spending more, but growth is slight. Yes, the glory days are over. Time to head to China and other booming online markets.  (Mobile may offer some growth and excitement for e-commerce in the U.S. but don't hold your breath. Asia and Europe will get there far faster.)

One thing struck me in particular about the reaction to the comScore data: The cynicism over comScore's "overly rosy" reporting of the data.  I tend to agree that the days of illogical "spin" of web market research need to end.  Publicity is good, but we as researchers need to be more insightful.  Enough of the cheerleading.  I can't blame comScore for wanting to promote the good stuff, but as the world goes increasingly global it would be helpful to have the U.S. numbers put in perspective with comparable data from other countries.   Online shopping and advertising are here to stay and their outlooks are far, far better than their analog counterparts. So let's relax and get smart.

Online Holiday Spending Through December 27 Nears $28 Billion,