A Bleak First Quarter

By Brad

Online retailers weren’t immune to last year’s miserable holiday season, and as the New York Times “Bits” blog reports, the pain has extended into the new year:

In a Webcast Thursday, Gian Fulgoni, comScore’s chairman, said that the first-quarter sales resulted from a continuation of the brutal economic conditions that retailers have faced since the fall. Online sales climbed 2 percent in January and February but sank 1 percent in March. That was because online shops marked down unsold holiday inventory drastically after the first of the year. Once the promotions ended, shoppers retreated.

That mirrors consumer confidence levels, which rebounded slightly in January but then fell again. In April, consumer confidence was half what it was a year ago. In a survey, 80 percent of consumers told comScore that they were more afraid of the economic future than ever before. Unemployment and job security ranked chief among their worries.

Older and wealthier shoppers were especially quiet during the first quarter.