Online Holiday Sales Reach $39 Billion In 2012

In just the first 51 days of the holiday shopping season, e-commerce companies have racked up $38.7 billion in sales, a year-over-year increase of 16 percent.

Sales numbers were pushed up this past week as customers rushed to order presents in time to have them reach their final destinations via free and express shipping.

According to online research firm comScore, the week of Monday, December 17 brought in $1.01 billion. comScore says those numbers were a result of “the fact that so many retailers extended their promotions into the middle of the week — with guaranteed shipping by Christmas — helped deliver an encouraging late-season surge.”

Among some of this season’s most memorable feats were 12 days in which more than $1 billion in sales were achieved. In comparison, only 10 days in 2011 witnessed $1 billion sales days. Leading the pack was Cyber Monday, which racked up an impressive $1.465 billion in online sales. Cyber Monday was followed by Tuesday, December 4 in which $1.362 billion worth of goods were sold and Green Monday (December 10) in which $1.275 billion was moved.

Online sales volumes are expected to remain steady throughout the end of the year as online retailers often choose to offer massive clearance sales following December 25.

comScore has not estimated what type of sales volumes online retailers can expect; however, given the proximity to the $40 billion mark, that goal seems a likely achievement.

Here is a closer look at the top 10 internet sales days for the 2012 holiday shopping season:

Did you choose to ship presents via online shopping firms in 2012 or did you stick to traditional brick and mortar gift buying?