Cyber Monday sales soar 17% as buyers go mobile

Online spending rose 17 percent on the Monday after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest days of the year for Internet retailers, as tablets and smartphones let customers shop anytime and anywhere.

Consumers spent about $1.46 billion on so-called Cyber Monday, compared with $1.25 billion a year ago, making it the heaviest online spending day in history, research firmComScore Inc. (SCOR) said in a statement today. U.S. retail e-commerce spending reached $16.4 billion in the first 26 days of the holiday season, a 16 percent increase from the same time last year.

The convenience offered by mobile devices, especially tablets, is boosting sales for online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and EBay Inc. (EBAY)Consumers are no longer waiting for Black Friday to shop and they’re starting as early as Thursday evening, which will help Internet sales reach $43.4 billion this holiday season, or 10 percent of U.S. retail spending, excluding gas, food and cars, according to ComScore.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28/online-cyber-monday-sales-soar-17-as-buyers-turn-mobile.html