The boom in online holiday shopping continues, two researchers report

Two separate measures of online spending report the same results: E-retailing is booming this Christmas shopping season.

Online retail shopping set a record last week, totaling $1.7 billion, comScore Networks Inc. reported today. Spending was 36% higher than the corresponding week (the second after Thanksgiving) last year, comScore says. Last Thursday, Dec. 12, was the peak retail sales day for the holiday season to date at $288 million. Travel and non-travel spending together set a record $2.2 billion in sales, comScore says.

"It`s possible that the growing consumer attraction to online shopping coupled with this year`s compressed shopping season will extend these heavier spending levels closer to Christmas," said Michelle David Adams, comScore vice president.

Consumer online retail sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 13 increased 23% versus year-ago to $7.1 billion, while online travel sales increased 55% to $3.6 billion.

ComScore bases its numbers on monitoring a cross-section of 1.5 million consumers who have given comScore permission to follow their online behavior. ComScore’s data includes sales information gathered at more than 50,000 online merchants and other commerce sites.

In terms of trips to retail sites, shopping is booming, says the Nielsen/NetRatings Holiday eCommerce Index, which reports a 44% growth in online shopping trips since the end of October. In the week that ended Dec. 8, consumers conducted 156.5 million trips to e-retailing sites, up from 108.7 million the week ending Oct. 27, Nielsen/NetRatings reports. Nielsen/NetRatings considers that date the start of the holiday shopping period.

Largest growth has been in toys, up 129% in that period; consumer electronics, up 86.6%; apparel, up 56.3%; virtual departments stores, such as Amazon, up 54.3%; and value-oriented retailers, up 48%.

The weekly Nielsen/NetRatings Holiday eCommerce Index is based on total shopping trips to e-commerce sites at work and at home. The index measures activity at five sites in each category that Nielsen/NetRatings considers representative.