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Online retailers have experienced a 46 percent increase in sales this holiday season compared with 2002, according to a report by Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive, and Nielsen/NetRatings.

The eSpending report said online shoppers spent $2.95 billion during the second week of December, up 48 percent from the same period last year.

According to the report, the total amount spent online for the holiday season so far--from November 1 to December 12--excluding travel, was $13 billion. The estimate is based on information provided by 7178 online users.

The most popular online shopping categories were clothing, toys and video games, consumer electronics, videos and DVDs, and books, the Nielsen/Netrating's eSpending report said.

Avoiding the Mall

"This season we are seeing a continuing trend of consumers deciding that shopping online is the way to go," said Lori Iventosch-James, director of e-commerce research for Harris Interactive, in the statement. "Smart Internet retailers have minimized the barriers to online shopping, increasing their share of the shopper's total holiday budget and making it the preferred channel for many shoppers. With extended shipping deadlines, we expect this trend to continue as people want to avoid the late shopping crowds."

Another survey, released by Reston, Virginia-based ComScore Networks, said that online retail sales for November 1 to December 14, excluding travel and auctions, were $9.4 billion, up 29 percent from last year.

According to ComScore, consumers spent $2.11 billion during the second week in December, an increase of 28 percent over the same week in 2002.

ComScore's report said that figure represented the highest level of nontravel weekly spending ever recorded.

E-Commerce Grows Up

According to ComScore's research, online sales growth can be attributed to a broader base of online shoppers, more home broadband users, more experienced online shoppers, ease of online shopping, and the number of consumers willing to buy a wider variety of products online.

Sharon Weber, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores in Bentonville, Arkansas, said that although the industry was expecting online holiday sales to increase about 30 percent over last year, its online affiliate, Walmart.com, was expecting an increase of 60 percent. However, Weber couldn't provide further details on online holiday sales.

Scott Silverman, a spokesman for the Washington-based National Retail Federation, said 40 percent of the approximately 90 members it surveyed expect online holiday sales this year to increase 35 percent or more over last year.

However, online sales remain a small portion of overall buying. The NRF predicts all U.S. holiday-season sales will top $217 billion this year. Its Shop.org division forecasts online purchases will be about 4.5 percent of full-year 2003 sales.