The news may be a little hard to believe today – the Dow has closed down about 221 points – but a fresh report from Compete says that online retailers aren’t having such a bad holiday season.  In fact, thanks to a charge led by Amazon, the latest unique visitor stats are pulling ahead of the levels set in 2007.

Stephen DiMarco explains that he started his evaluation with "a group of ten retailers that Compete monitors as a harbinger for the rest of the retail industry."  Then he set the comparison’s start date to the first of November.

 

The significant gap between the Compete graph’s red and blue lines tells the rest of the story.  Only at a couple of points does the 2007 data set top the one from 2008, and as we head into the last leg of the race, the 2008 set’s lead is growing.

Different data suggests that Amazon, in particular, is doing well, with its level of success increasing over time.  DiMarco confirms, "[T]he daily spread is increasing – meaning that Amazon’s performance is actually accelerating compared to the same period last year."

All that remains is for the unique visitors to turn into cash-in-hand customers, then, and perhaps online retailers can not get hit too hard by the recession.