comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an update of holiday season e-commerce spending for the first 57 days of the 2007 holiday season (November 1 – December 27). Nearly $28 billion has been spent online during the season-to-date, marking a 19-percent gain versus the corresponding days last year.

“Even as the holiday shopping season winds down after Christmas, we continue to see some relatively strong online spending days,” said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. “For example, the day after Christmas saw online sales of $545 million, more than double the sales on the same day last year. This would appear to indicate that consumers were willing, and able, to take advantage of the attractive late-season promotions and price discounts offered by retailers this year.”

Online Spending Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Grows 21 Percent vs. 2006

Another means of gauging the strength of online holiday spending is to examine the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which represents the core of the holiday shopping season. This year, there were 32-days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, compared to 31-days last year. During this period in 2007, online sales grew by 21 percent versus year ago, a full 2 percentage points higher than the overall holiday season-to-date growth rate.

“Warm weather during the early part of November took its toll on online retail sales, and played a role in holding down the growth in spending over the entire holiday season to a 19-percent rate, which is below last year’s level of 26 percent,” added Mr. Fulgoni. “However, if we look at the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we see online spending growing at a healthier 21-percent rate, which I think is encouraging given the economic challenges facing consumers this year as a result of higher gas prices, lower home values and a jittery stock market.”