US Cyber Monday spending hits new high

US online shopping hit a record high on Cyber Monday with people racking up $1.25 billion worth of purchases on the Internet, according to comScore.

Sales at US e-commerce sites topped last year's Cyber Monday figures by 22 percent, the industry tracker reported.

"It was just the second billion-dollar spending day on record," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, noting that last year's Cyber Monday was the first time that threshold was breached.

"It will be interesting to watch the next couple of weeks to see if any future individual days in 2011 manage to leapfrog this year's highest day-to-date," he added.

The year-end holiday shopping season was starting off strong online, with US Internet shops seeing $15 billion in sales between the start of November and Cyber Monday, according to comScore.

Cyber Monday was launched in 2005 by a US national retail association to bring online shopping into the mainstream.

As lifestyles increasingly revolve around the Internet, people are growing more comfortable with making purchases online.

(c) 2011 AFP