Multi-Channel Retailers Growing Fastest This Holiday SeasonMulti-Channel Retailers Growing Fastest This Holiday Season

Brick-and-mortar stores account for seven of the top 10 online retailers so far this holiday season, and are generating the highest growth rates, a market research firm said.

As of Dec. 8, pure-play retailer Amazon.com had the highest sales, but was ranked sixth in terms of growth by ComScore Networks. Best Buy ranked the highest in sales growth, followed by Ticketmaster, Wal-Mart, Circuit City and Victoria's Secret, respectively. The performance of these retailers, some of which have growth rates exceeding 50 percent, clearly reveals the strength of a multi-channel sales strategy, ComScore said Monday.

The market research company expects the heaviest online shopping day of the season to occur this week, and is predicting a record near $700 million. Last week, sales exceeded $610 million for each of the five days of the workweek.

Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 8, online retail sales have reached nearly $15.6 billion, a 25 percent increase from the same period a year ago. ComScore is predicting the holiday season, which the firm defines as November through December, to reach $24.3 billion, or 24 percent more than last year. For the full year, ComScore is expecting online shoppers to spend $77.5 billion, also 24 percent more than in 2005.

The top 10 retailers on the Web as of Dec. 8 were, in order, Amazon.com, Dell, Yahoo, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, Ticketmaster, Apple Computer, Victoria's Secret, Best Buy and Circuit City.