This holiday season was expected to be the largest yet in terms of online spending and thus far, consumers haven't disappointed. Black Friday e-commerce numbers have been tallied and once again, a new spending record has been set.
Shoppers collectively shelled out more than $1 billion in online spending last Friday, according to comScore. To be more precise, the research firm says US retail spending hit $1.042 billion, good for a 26 percent increase over last year. Amazon was the top online destination followed by Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple.
$633 million was spent on Thanksgiving Day, representing a 32 percent year-over-year increase. It would appear that launching sales campaigns on Thanksgiving Day certainly paid off for retailers, or at least those that sell goods online.
A quick check of the entire holiday season to date reveals consumers have spent $13.7 billion on gifts thus far. This is right in line with comScore's forecast, representing a 16 percent increase compared with the same time period in 2011.
comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni says online spending is up largely due to the fact that many consumers want to avoid crowds at the stores. All of this, he says, is despite the whirlwind of media coverage surrounding the importance of Black Friday in the brick-and-mortar world.
While it's all good news for online retailers, physical stores are continuing to feel the pressure from their Internet competition. Early reports suggest that Black Friday sales in retail stores were down 1.8 percent over last year.
Next up on the docket is Cyber Monday, a day that is once again expected to set online spending records. It is believed that online spending could hit $1.5 billion or higher today.