Online shoppers in the U.S. set a record for one-day sales on Cyber Monday, racking up US$733 million in purchases, comScore Networks said Tuesday.
The figure represents a 21 per cent increase over the same day last year and the most money that U.S. shoppers have ever spent in a single day online, according to comScore.
Online shoppers have spent US$10.74 billion in total so far this holiday season, which comScore measures from Nov. 1. That’s 17 per cent more than during the same period last year.
Cyber Monday is the first Monday after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when people return to work and begin making online purchases, as opposed to brick-and-mortar store purchases they may have made on “Black Friday”– the day after Thanksgiving.
Online stores have been struggling to keep up with the demand. On Monday, Internet performance analysis company Keynote Systems said 10 of the 30 major retail sites it monitors for its holiday retail index showed significant slowdowns.
The total number of online shoppers was up 38 per cent this year, comScore said, although it noted an average decrease in spending of 12 per cent.
Overstock.com and Circuit City’s Web site were the two hottest sites compared to normal traffic, each experiencing jumps of over 130 per cent. In contrast, Amazon.com visits were up only 50 per cent, while Apple saw a 5 per cent bump for its online store.