Sales were robust on Cyber Monday, as retailers dangled free shipping and other offers in front of bargain-hungry consumers.
AP
According to analytics firm ComScore, spending on Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, was up 5 percent from a year ago.
Shoppers spent a total of $887 million online on the day, which is marketed as a day of deep discounts from online retailers.
Although the average amount each shopper spent — about $102.19 per person — was about 1.5 percent less than a year ago, that was the largest amount money spent online in a single day since Dec. 9, 2008.
In an interview with CNBC, ComScore Chairman Gian Fuglioni said the trend reflects an increasing comfort level with online shopping.
But consumers were clearly going online in pursuit of the good deals being offered by online retailers.
"It's clear the retailers—the multichannel retailers—are looking at the Internet more as a part of an integrated strategy, and they have been very, very aggressive with their deals this season," Fuglioni said.
Consumer Nation Holiday Central Edition
Surprisingly, about half of Monday's purchases were made at the office. There were some surveys ahead of Cyber Monday that suggested shoppers would be fearful of using their work computer to do their shopping. Instead, about half of all online shopping occurred at work.
The increase in Cyber Monday sales may bode well for the rest of the season. However, it does not tend to be the busiest online shopping day of the year. That day usually falls somewhere in mid-December.
In November, which included both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, online sales rose 3 percent to $12.26 billion, ComScore said.
More from Consumer Nation:
- Predictions 2010: Consumers
- Blue Nile CEO: 'We're Having the Best Cyber Monday Ever'
- Cyber Monday: The Last Vestige of Dotcom Hype
Questions? Comments? Email us at consumernation@cnbc.com
