Online Holiday Sales Off To Fast StartOnline Holiday Sales Off To Fast Start

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shoppers crowded the Internet as well as store aisles during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Typically, the online holiday season officially starts on the subsequent Monday, when many people start shopping from the workplace computer. But this year, many online retailers, including Toysrus.com and Bluefly.com, which sells designer clothing at big discounts, saw sales take off on Thanksgiving Day itself.

That shows how consumers are increasingly using the Internet as an information tool--scouring for deals and then purchasing as much as they can online before heading to the malls for those early bird specials and other deals on Friday. The change in shopping patterns also reflect how millions of homes have converted to high-speed Internet connections, making it easier to shop from home, analysts said.

In fact, for the first time, Sears, Roebuck and Co. gave online customers early access to Friday's specials, allowing them to order on the Web on Thanksgiving Day--and then pick up the merchandise in the stores over the weekend. That strategy seemed to work; sales on Thanksgiving were three times what they were a year ago.

"They're home and they're getting ready for Friday," sales, said Greg Ahearn, vice president of marketing for Toysrus.com, which offered special deals on toys on Thanksgiving day.

BizRate.com, a comparison shopping site that also tracks sales at 2,000 E-commerce sites, reported that sales increased 30 percent on Thanksgiving day to $197 million, compared with $151 million a year ago.

"Thursday was strong. Broadband is definitely having an effect," said Chuck Davis, CEO of BizRate.com. "Online shopping has also become more mainstream."

For the four-day weekend ended Sunday, BizRate.com reported that sales for the 2,000 sites it tracks totaled $820 million, compared with $735 million during the year-ago period.

According to BizRate.com, Monday remained the busiest day of the holiday weekend, reaching $256 million, up 26 percent from $203 million a year ago. But this year, Davis noted there was another spike at 6 p.m., not just one at noon, indicating that consumers are doing more of their shopping from home.

Solange Han, 30, from Waltham, Mass., avoided the crowded malls this weekend. On Thanksgiving Day, she browsed on sites like Amazon.com and Sephora.com, and on Monday, clicked online from her office computer, spending about $700 on presents for herself and others on such sites as Coach.com and winecountrygiftbasket.com.

"Why deal with the hassle of the crowds," said Han, who vows to do all of her gift shopping online this year, a big difference from a year ago, when she shopped at the malls.

Han also snapped up $60 cotton bed sheets with a satin finish on Overstock.com, a better value than what she had just purchased at a local Target store.

Tory Johnson, 33, from Manhattan, braved the crowds at various department stores on Friday, but headed to the Internet on Saturday, buying presents at Williams-Sonoma.com and other sites.

"A year ago, I only bought books online," Johnson said. "This year, I am ordering dozens of gifts online, which is a first for me."

Online sales are expected to be a bright spot this holiday season.

Forrester Research estimated that online sales from Thanksgiving weekend to Christmas will increase 42 percent over a year ago to $12.2 billion. The results include travel and auction sites.

Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corp., projects that online sales will be up 21 percent to $17 billion for the November and December period. The results exclude travel and auction sites.

From Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, online retail sales reached $5.89 billion, a 22 percent increase from $4.85 billion for the same period a year ago, according to BizRate.com.

Total online sales--excluding travel and auctions--for the week ended Sunday was $1.26 billion, compared with a little more than $1 billion in the year-ago period, according to comScore Network's preliminary data.

Still, despite its growth, online sales are expected to account for only 4.5 percent of annual total retail sales this year, up from 3.6 percent last year, according to Shop.org, an arm of the National Retail Federation. Total retail sales include business from tickets, travel, events and auctions.

Meanwhile, analysts are hoping for business at brick and mortar stores to be up 4 percent to 5 percent over a year ago, which was unchanged from 2001.

The busiest day for brick and mortar stores has been the Saturday before Christmas. Davis expects online holiday sales to peak anywhere from Dec. 11 to 15.

A lot more online retailers are aiming to rope in consumers with free shipping offers this holiday season. This season, 700 companies are offering shipping deals, up from 150 a year ago, according to BizRate.com.

Online merchants said they're well prepared this holiday season, and so far are pleased with sales.

Ken Seiff, CEO of Bluefly.com, which redesigned its site in October, said sales were up 75 percent for the four-day weekend, ended Sunday, compared to the year-ago period.

"Sales started earlier this year," said Seiff, noting an uptick on Thanksgiving. He said Bluefly.com is on track in reaching "the upper end of what we thought was achievable."

Mark Vadon, CEO of diamond retailer Bluenile.com, forecast sales for the quarter ending Dec. 31 to be up 60 percent from the year-ago period. The company's average ticket has increased by 10 percent this holiday season to $1,200 from $1,000 a year ago.

"People are spending a little more," he said.