Cyber Monday spending hits record $1.25 billion

Consumers spent a record $1.25 billion on Cyber Monday according to comScore, making it the heaviest online shopping day in history.

Online shopping was up 22 percent from a year ago after retailers posted strong increases on Black Friday as well. For the holiday season $15 billion has been spent online, a 15-percent increase from last year.

“Cyber Monday was yet another historic day for e-commerce, with online spending reaching a record $1.25 billion,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

“It was just the second billion dollar spending day on record, following on the heels of Cyber Monday 2010. While last year saw Cyber Monday rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year for the first time ever, it will be interesting to watch the next couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this year’s highest day-to-date.”

The number of buyers was up 11 percent while the average amount spent per shopper increased nine percent. Overall, 10 million consumers shopped online on Monday, the first time on record the figure has crossed that threshold. The average buyer conducted roughly two transactions for a total of $125 in spending.

“Looking forward to the balance of the season, it will be very important to continue to monitor the trend in consumer spending to determine the degree to which retailers’ heavy promotional activity at the beginning of the shopping season, and consumers’ encouraging response, has pulled forward consumers’ future buying," added Fulgoni.