comScore, Inc. released an update of holiday season e-commerce spending for the first 46 days of the November - December 2007 holiday season (November 1 - December 16). More than $23 billion has been spent online during the season-to-date, marking a 19-percent gain versus the corresponding days last year.

The most recent week, which saw online spending jump 22 percent, will likely be the heaviest online spending week of the season with $4.7 billion in sales. "Despite a choppy spending pattern, with the beginning and end of the week showing strong growth while the mid-week days grew more slowly, the most recent week represented a strong period for online retailing, with spending up 22 percent versus year ago," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni.

"The current - and final - week of online shopping before Christmas will be especially critical to the overall success of the holiday shopping season. We'll know whether consumers were simply delaying their purchases in the hopes of capturing late-season deals, or if the economic
pressures weighing on people's wallets were actually too strong to overcome, causing sales to fall below analysts' forecasts."

Fastest Growing Product Categories

Video games, consoles & accessories continues to be the fastest growing online retail category, jumping 129 percent versus the corresponding days last year, while furniture, appliances & equipment (up 63 percent), event tickets (up 29 percent) and consumer electronics (up 24 percent) have also demonstrated above average growth. After a very slow start to the season, online apparel sales have picked up considerably, with growth now registering 17-percent for the season.