Online consumers in the United States spent $8.8 billion, excluding travel purchases, in November, a 19 percent jump over the $7.4 billion spent online a year earlier, a report released Monday said.
The 2004 figure represents a 62 percent increase over the $5.5 billion consumers spent online during the 2002 holiday season, according to a report sponsored by Goldman Sachs & Co., Harris Interactive and Nielsen//NetRatings.
The report, based on weekly surveys of more than 1,000 respondents, showed adult consumers spent the most on apparel, totaling $1.5 billion in November 2004.
The toys/video games (hardware and software) category came in second at $1 billion, while the video/DVD category followed at $882 million, the report showed.
The books and music categories rounded out the top five, at $621 million and $481 million, respectively.
Categories showing the highest growth in holiday spending last month included toys/video games, video/DVDs and music.
The toys/video games category grew 43 percent over last year, while the video/DVDs and music categories increased 39 percent and 32 percent, respectively.
"We remain enthusiastic about the start of this holiday season, as several categories saw substantial revenue increases," said NetRatings analyst Heather Dougherty.
"The growth in 2004 holiday revenue suggests that consumers are shifting more dollars to the Internet this season."
Forty-eight percent of consumers said they had started but not finished their holiday shopping, while 35 percent indicated they had not started shopping for this season.
