Cyber Monday sales were up 5 percent compared to a year ago reaching $887 million and matching the heaviest online spending day on record, December 9, 2008, according to the latest report from comScore.

"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's 5 percent growth in sales versus a year ago was driven mainly by an increase in the number of buyers, reflecting consumers' increasing comfort with online buying, while average spending per buyer was down slightly. 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.

On Cyber Monday this year, more than half of dollars spent online at U.S. websites took place from work computers (52.7%), an increase of 2.3 percentage points from last year. Buying from home made up the majority of the remaining share (41.6%) while buying from international locations accounted for 5.8 percent.

"comScore data have shown that Cyber Monday online sales have always been driven by considerable buying activity from work locations," said 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."

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