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Cyber Monday sales set record of $1.5BNov 28, 2012 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Spending hit a record $1.47 billion on Cyber Monday -- the biggest day ever for online sales. Sales increased 17 percent from last year, according to research firm comScore Inc. After Black Friday, Cyber Monday was the second day this year that online spending topped $1 billion in sales, the Reston, Va., digital business analytics company said. The National Retail Federation coined "Cyber Monday" in 2005 to mark the noted increase in consumers shopping online when they returned to work on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It's expected to be the year's heaviest online sales day for the third straight year, comScore said. "Despite some news reports suggesting that Cyber Monday might be declining in importance, the day has once again set an online spending record," comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a statement. "However, it is also clear that the holiday promotional period has begun even earlier this year, with strong online sales occurring on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday." Just more than 47 percent of Cyber Monday sales originated from consumers shopping at work, down from 50.2 percent last year, comScore reported. A tad more people shopped from home. Digital content and subscriptions was the strongest among product categories, with a 28 percent rise in sales. Sales of consumer electronics, boosted by smartphone sales, increased 24 percent, followed by computer hardware including tablets; video games, consoles and accessories; and jewelry and watches. An estimated 129.2 million shoppers said they would shop online on Cyber Monday, according to an NRF survey, compared to 122.8 million last year. [email protected] ___ (c)2012 the Boston Herald Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |