comScore Finds Signs Of Small Business Recovery

Small business owners may not be trampled by customers waving handfuls of cash anytime soon, but comScore, with its considerable experience in collecting and analyzing statistics, supports the idea that things are getting better.  The firm’s cofounder and chairman shared findings to that effect earlier this week.

Gian Fulgoni wrote, "comScore data show that in the online world small-to-mid size smaller retailers have begun to slowly regain some of the e-commerce market share they lost to their larger rivals during a period when the 25 largest retailers were able to leverage their greater financial resources and be more aggressive in terms of price reductions and deals."

Later, Fulgoni added, "[W]hile small-to-mid size retailers have lost 5.6 share points over the past twelve months, if we look at the most recent two quarters (i.e. Q3 to Q4 2010), their share has increased by 1.5 percentage points.  I believe this improvement is the result of two factors that became clear during the 2010 holiday shopping season: (1) more retailers finally being able to step up their promotional efforts and offering more aggressive deals . . . and (2) increased spending in the online channel by all consumer income segments, with a larger number of retailers benefiting from this positive trend."

That’s encouraging news.  After all, the fact that smaller firms were able to win back consumers during the holiday season – when big retailers virtually take over television stations and sell toys by the ton – is quite impressive.

Also, the improvement actually occurred during both the third and fourth quarters, setting up something of a trend, and consumers should continue to get back to their normal spending habits as the economy recovers.

Let’s hope comScore’s stats (and Fulgoni’s optimism) are borne out by real-world conditions in the next couple months.