Weekly Internet Spending Tops $1 Billion for First Time

Online shoppers are keeping cyber registers ringing as they continue to meet industry projections for a prosperous holiday season.
     Shattering previous records, consumers spent more than $1.2 billion online for the week ending Dec. 12--a 38% increase over the previous week and more than double the amount spent online during the week of Thanksgiving, according to a joint survey by Goldman Sachs, an investment banking firm and PC Data Online, an Internet research company.
     Toy sales controlled the market, while apparel and electronics underwent significant growth, up 64.5% and 47% respectively.
     "Internet holiday spending had support from nearly all shopping categories, marking the first time Internet retail spending online topped the $1 billion mark in a week," says Cameron Meierhoefer, Internet analyst for PC Data Online. "While home Internet users spent nearly $200 million on toys alone last week, the tremendous spending growth for toys did appear to slow. As we approach the holiday shipping deadlines set by online retailers, we expect Internet spending will start to fall back to pre-holiday levels."
     The weekly survey polled 3,004 home-based Internet users and is part of a study by the two companies to measure behaviors, attitudes and satisfaction levels of online buying during the holiday season.