Online spending reaches $133 mln on Thanksgiving Day, $250 mln on Black Friday

Americans spent $250 million online on Black Friday, up 41% compared to $178 million in 2003, according to comScore Networks. The day before Black Friday online sales shot up 100% to $133 mln on Thanksgiving Day 2004 compared to the same day in 2003. 53% of those consumers who have access to the Internet from the home currently have high-speed Internet connections, compared with 40.9% a year ago, according to NielsenNetRatings. Toysrus.com's traffic soared 212.6% on Friday, while Amazon.com was up 49.7%.

Online retail spending in the season-to-date through Friday, November 26 totaled $5.7 billion, an increase of 23% compared to $4.6 billion during the corresponding days in 2003. Sales during the five days ending Friday, November 26 (Black Friday sales) were particularly strong, helping to offset somewhat softer sales earlier in November. Between Monday, November 22 and Friday, November 26, online retail sales were $1.23 billion, an increase of 35% compared to the corresponding days in 2003. While Thanksgiving is still a comparatively light online shopping day, spending was up dramatically compared to last year. This year, consumers spent $133 million online on Thanksgiving, an increase of 100% compared to the $67 million spent online last year. The strong growth on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday are likely partially driven by increased home broadband penetration, making the online shopping process faster and more convenient.