Aliso Viejo Buy.com Inc., an online retailer, said it tallied record sales on Black Friday, a positive indicator in the run up to Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday shopping season.
Buy.com said it saw Black Friday sales—on the Friday after Thanksgiving—grow 45% over last year.
It hasn’t yet reported sales for Cyber Monday, which typically lures more buyers in with online-only deals and rides the coattails of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Both are seen as bellwethers of spending for the entire holiday shopping season, a time during which many retailers for much of their annual sales.
Privately held Buy.com doesn’t disclose actual sales figures. The Business Journal estimates the company at about $500 million in yearly sales.
“Our initial holiday results point to a strong start of the season, as consumers responded favorably to the newest initiatives we put in place to create an even more wallet-friendly shopping experience,” Chief Executive Neel Grover said.
In 2009, Buy.com reported 120% sales growth over Black Friday of 2008, which had a particularly dismal showing amid the deepening recession.
Buy.com sells everything from flat TVs to diamond rings, some 60 million products in all. The company’s latest forays into new areas include pet supplies, toys, musical instruments, health and beauty products and used books.
Staples include electronics, movies, music and computer products. About 35,000 independent merchants also use Buy.com to sell their products.
The company competes tooth and nail—largely on price—with Amazon.com Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc. and Best Buy Co.
In general, shoppers dropped an estimated $45 billion over the weekend in all, up about 10% from a year earlier, according to Chicago-based market research firm ShopperTrak.
Internet sales rose 16% from the same period a year ago, with average spending going from $170 per order to $190, ShopperTrak’s data showed.
This year marks the first holiday shopping season Buy.com has been part of new parent Japan’s Rakuten Inc., which bought it in May for $250 million.
Rakuten is Japan’s biggest Internet company and sees yearly sales of more than $3 billion.
