Cyber Monday sees record sales

The Associated Press says.

The firm, comScore, said that for the holiday season to date, $18.7 billion has been spent online, marking a 15% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

The most recent week saw three individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Cyber Monday, which became the heaviest online spending day on record, the firm noted.

The holiday shopping season can make up to 40% of retailers' annual revenue, The Associated Press notes in a separate article.

This year's holiday shopping has risen with help from discounting and promotions. Free shipping also appears to be a big draw, applying to 63% of sales, up from 52% a year ago.

“Consumers have come to expect free shipping during the holiday promotion periods, and retailers, in turn, have realised that they must offer this incentive,” says comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni in a statement.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that British retailers were bracing for a record 1 000 visits online every second from customers desperate for a bargain on the Web on Cyber Monday.

Britain's biggest pre-Christmas shopping day is expected to lead to more than 85 million visits to retail Web sites in just a matter of hours.

Industry experts expect the overall sales figure to rise 15% to more than £7.75 billion on last year's numbers, as Internet retailers attempt to grab their part of a tough High Street market.