Computer Potatoes: Black Friday Online Shopping Crosses $1 Billion in 2012

According to yet another online shopping survey for the holiday shopping season, this one from comScore, people are buying a lot more online than last year.

I know this people-buying-stuff-online thing must come as a shock to those who have been living in a cave for several years now.

For those with an Internet connection, though, sales rose to $1.04 billion on Black Friday, an increase of 26 percent over last year. It is the first time that Web purchasing for the important retailing day was over $1 billion, with 57.3 million consumers visiting online stores.

The entire amount of 2012 online holiday spending from the beginning of November until now, according to comScore, has been $13.7 billion. It is a 16 percent rise, but still a drop in the bucket compared to bricks-and-mortar retailing.

But, according to a statement from a comScore guy, “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.”

People don’t like being jostled at a mall when they can sit at home and buy more things on a couch. Imagine that!

Amazon was where the most action was among online retailing, followed by Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple. Auction site eBay was excluded from this group.

And, if you can bear any more stats, here is a chart from ChannelAdvisor on online sales: