Benchmark Responds to comScore's Post-Holiday Shopping Data

In a report published Friday, Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey looked back on the online holiday shopping season. The note follows comScore data from Thursday showing online spending during the holiday season came in below expectations at 10 percent growth, versus Benchmark's forecast of 12 percent. “Heavy discounting by retailers and the 6 fewer days between thanksgiving and Christmas were cited as major drivers for the shortfall, which seems to be somewhat confirmed by UPS and FedEx calling out heavy holiday volume, implying that it was a pricing issue,” Hickey said. “We think the overall shortfall is more likely to impact weaker and niche brands, although we remind investors that the last consumer sentiment reading was the highest since July, so we still expect some decent momentum heading into 2014.” “The last consumer sentiment reading was the highest since July, so we still expect some decent momentum heading into 2014,” according to Hickey.