Holiday shopping $8.5 bln in the US this year

Holiday eSpending Report from Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen//NetRatings indicates that holiday shoppers spent $8.5 billion online in the US in November of 2003. The report explains that the total does not include online travel spending, but does represent a 55% leap over online spending in November of last year. The study determines that books were purchased online by 5.3% of survey respondents who spent a total of $761 million. Apparel was bought online by 5.2% of respondents who spent $1.6 billion on clothing.