ComScore (www.comscore.com), which specializes in "measuring the digital world," reports that US$13.7 billion has been spent online for the holiday season-to-date. This is a 16% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

Black Friday (Nov. 23) saw $1.042 billion in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2012 and representing a 26% increase versus Black Friday 2011. Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22), while traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 32% increase to $633 million.  

"Despite the frenzy of media coverage surrounding the importance of Black Friday in the brick-and-mortar world, we continue to see this shopping day become more and more prominent in the e-commerce channel -- particularly among those who prefer to avoid crowds at the stores," says comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "With Black Friday online sales up 26 percent and surpassing $1 billion for the first time, coupled with early reports indicating that Black Friday sales in retail stores were down 1.8%, we can now confidently call it amulti-channelmarketing phenomenon."