Online holiday spending continues its strong pace, comScore reports

Online retail sales for the week that ended Dec. 16 hit a record for the Christmas shopping season, comScore Networks Inc. reported today. Sales reached $1.33 billion, the highest level this year. Online retail spending for the fourth quarter totals $8.6 billion so far and is likely to reach $10 billion, up 10% from last year’s fourth quarter, comScore projects.

Total spending including travel reached a record $1.7 billion, comScore says.

Among the biggest traffic gainers for the week were major bricks-and-mortar merchants, including Nordstrom.com, up +91% from the week earlier, EddieBauer.com, up 37%, and Sears.com, up +16%. Consumer electronics outlets also grew, including BestBuy.com, up 11%,SharperImage.com, up +6%, and CircuitCity.com, up +5%. While many of the bricks-and-mortar retailer sites experienced large gains in traffic, not all the traffic resulted in online sales, as many consumers did last-minute online research to make their offline purchasing more efficient, comScore reports.