Green Monday online spending up 19% to $1.13 billion

RESTON, Va. --Data released Wednesday by comScore showed that holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 42 days of the 2011 holiday season is up 15% year-over-year. Through “Green Monday,” Dec. 12, $26.8 billion has been spent online.

The most recent week (week ending Dec. 11) reached a record $6.1 billion in spending, in line with the season-to-date’s 15% growth rate, according to the report.

Green Monday, December 12 – the second Monday in December when online spending has historically tended to peak – reached $1.13 billion in spending, a 19% increase over last year and ranking it as the third heaviest spending day of the season after Cyber Monday ($1.25 billion) and Monday, December 5 ($1.17 billion).

“Green Monday kicks off what should be the heaviest week of the year for online shopping, where we could see several billion dollar spending days, punctuated by Free Shipping Day on Friday, December 16,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

Digital Content & Subscriptions led the top growing online retail categories for season-to-date, with a growth rate more than double that of the online sector as a whole, according to comScore. Jewelry & Watches was the second fastest growing category this season, followed by Consumer Electronics and Video Games and Computer Software.