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Consumers expect to spend an average of $267 online in this year's second quarter, which would represent an 8.1% increase from the $247 they expected to spend the previous quarter, according to the latest update of the quarterly eBillme Online Spending Index. Pleasanton, Calif.-based consultancy Javelin Strategy & Research and eBillme, an online payments service of Ottawa, Ontario-based ModaSolutions Corp., sponsor the index. EBillme enables consumers to pay merchants through their financial institutions' online bill-payment systems. The second-quarter projection is the first increase in average online spending since August, when Javelin and eBillme launched the index. At that time, average expected online spending for the third quarter of 2008 was $363. Expected spending dropped to $349 in the fourth quarter. "The online channel is not being hit as hard as other retail channels," Bruce Cundiff, Javelin director of payments research and consulting, tells CardLine. The trend bodes well for the future of the online channel, says Cundiff, who is not sure why online shopping is faring better than spending at brick-and-mortar stores. Perhaps some consumers prefer paying delivery fees instead of fueling up their own cars to drive to local stores, Cundiff says. Of 1,209 consumers surveyed for the second-quarter index, 39% said they had more confidence in the economy than they did in past quarters, and 19% said they felt more comfortable increasing everyday spending. Fifty-one percent of consumers surveyed said they are delaying purchases because of the economy, down from 55% who said so last quarter.
