ComScore reported that online retailers racked up $887 million in sales on Cyber Monday, up 5% from last year. The amount is the highest single-day online spending on record after Dec. 9, 2008, when consumers splurged the exact same amount.

For the holiday season-to-date, $12.26 billion has been spent online,
marking a 3% increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday's sales uptick came after a 10% jump on Thanksgiving day, followed by an 11% increase on Black Friday last week.

2009 Holiday Season to Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008
Non-Travel (Retail) Spending
Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
 
 Millions ($)
2008 2009 Percent Change
November 1 – 30
 $11,870
 $12,262
 3%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)
 $288
 $318
 10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)
 $534
 $595
 11%
Weekend (Nov. 28-29)
 $769
 $805
 5%
Cyber Monday (Nov. 30)
 $834
 $887
 5%


The report mirrors similarly upbeat accounts from Coremetrics and PayPal.

We’ve seen an encouraging start to the online holiday shopping
season and it would appear that retailers’ aggressive and early
marketing efforts have so far succeeded in persuading consumers to open
their wallets online,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.
“Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday were atypically strong online sales
days this year, and Cyber Monday has continued that trend by
outperforming the season-to-date average growth rate and matching last
year’s record day of $887 million in online spending. Now, it will be
important to see if spending continues to grow over the balance of the
season — because the heaviest spending day online typically occurs in
mid-December.”

Cyber Monday Sales Growth Driven by Increase in Buyers


Cyber Monday’s 5-percent growth in sales versus year ago was driven
primarily by an increase in the number of buyers, reflecting consumers'
increasing familiarity and comfort with online buying, while average
spending per buyer was down slightly, presumably a result of economic
constraints. Specifically, the number of online buyers grew 6 percent
to 8.7 million, while the average dollars spent per buyer declined 2
percent to $102.19.

Cyber Monday Spending Growth Breakdown
Cyber Monday 2009 vs. Cyber Monday 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
 
 Cyber Monday 2008 Cyber Monday 2009 Percent Change
Dollar Sales ($ Millions)
 $846
 $887
 5%
Buyers (Millions)
 8.2
 8.7
 6%
Dollars per buyer
 $103.72
 $102.19
 -1%

Buying at Work Continues to Drive Cyber Monday Sales

On
Cyber Monday this year, more than half of dollars spent online at U.S.
Web sites originated from work computers (52.7 percent), representing a
gain of 2.3 percentage points from last year. Buying from home
comprised the majority of the remaining share (41.6 percent) while
buying from international locations accounted for 5.8 percent.

Cyber Monday Spending Growth Breakdown
Cyber Monday 2009 vs. Cyber Monday 2008
Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations
Source: comScore, Inc.
 
 Cyber Monday 2008 Cyber Monday 2009 Point Change
Home (incl. University)
 42.5%
 41.6%
 -0.9
Work
 50.4%
 52.7%
 2.3
International
 7.1%
 5.8%
 -1.3
Total
 100.0%
 100.0%
 N/A

“ComScore data have shown that Cyber Monday online sales have always
been driven by considerable buying activity from work locations,” added
Mr. Fulgoni. “That pattern hasn’t changed. After returning from the
long Thanksgiving weekend with a lot of holiday shopping still ahead of
them, many consumers tend to continue their holiday shopping from work.
Whether to take advantage of the extensive Cyber Monday deals offered
by retailers or to buy gifts away from the prying eyes of family
members, this day has become an annual ritual for America’s online
holiday shoppers.”