Consumers are increasingly turning to online avenues to cover their shopping needs, potentially supporting internet sector-related exchange traded funds with a significant e-commerce presence.
For instance, the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio (NasdaqGS: PNQI) incldues eBay (NasdaqGS: EBAY) 8.5%, Amazon (NasdaqGS: AMZN) 7.3% and Baidu (NasdaqGS: BIDU) 3.8%. The First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSEArca: FDN) holds AMZN 7.0% and eBay 5.6%.
Looking at sector exposure, PNQI includes a 29.2% weight toward consumer discretionary names and FDN has a 21.8% tilt toward the consumer stocks.
On Amazon, more are taking advantage of the online retailer’s Prime shipping, with over 10 million new members worldwide trying the service for the first time, reports Evelyn Cheng for CNBC.
Amazon also revealed that more are shopping on the go, with almost 60% of Amazon customers using mobile devices, a trend that “accelerated as customers got later into the shopping season.”
Online retailers are on pace to sell more products than ever this holiday season, supported by early promotions and dodging widespread shipping delays of last year, reports Spencer Soper for Bloomberg.
“Shoppers were aware of last year’s problems, and the e-commerce companies and shipping companies were prepared,” said Jarrett Streebin, chief executive officer of EasyPost, said in the Bloomberg article. “So far, it looks like everything went really well.”
According to ChannelAdvisor, web sales jumped 14% from Nov. 27 to Dec. 21. ComScore Inc projected that online purchases would gain 16% during the three months through December. International Business Machines said that online spending rose 8.3% on Christmas Day year-over-year. While it was lower than last year’s number, IBM argues that many are spreading out their spending. [Improved Holiday Sales to Boost Retail, Consumer ETFs]
“Overall, shopping is going to be strong for the whole period,” Jay Henderson, IBM’s strategy program director, said in the Bloomberg article.
As we go into the traditional season for post-Christmas regifting, consumers are also turning to online venues, like eBay, to exchange unwanted gifts. Many retailers also now offer special extended return periods.
Additionally, bolstering this shopping holiday period, lower gas prices have left consumers with more money to spend.
“We’ve seen some better trends in the lower end,” Joseph Feldman, senior managing director of Telsey Advisory Group, said on CNBC. “The gas prices have definitely helped.”
PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio
For more information on the retail space, visit our retail category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.