Online shopping is at its best this year according to comScore.

A recent report shows that U.S. shoppers have already spent close to $25 billion in their online shopping for this holiday season with 8 days of the shopping season still remaining. This figure is an 15% increase when compared to the same period last year.

Strong marketing ideas combined with attractive offers and free shipping seemed to be the magic formula used by most retailers to entice online shoppers to buy gifts online rather than at retail locations.

The week ending on 9th Dec 2011 has not only recorded a $9.5 billion spending (a remarkable 15% increase from last year), but also includes 3 days when the sales figure surpassed $1billion. For the holiday season-to-date, six individual days out of 39 days have exceeded the billion dollar threshold, led by Cyber Monday at $1.25 billion.

In a statement, comScore chairman Gian Fugoni said:

These highlights represent another very positive sign for the holiday shopping season, as the week following ‘Cyber Week’ often experiences relative softness in spending momentum due to retailers pulling back on their promotional activity. As we enter what will be the heaviest week of the season for online retailers – beginning with ‘Green Monday’ on December 12 – all signs are now pointing to a strong finish to the season.

The term “Green Monday” was coined by eBay in 2007 to describe the Monday of the second week of December, which has been noted to be the day of the greatest online spending of the season since then and it seems that the trend will surely continue this year as well.

Fulgoni also said that although it is known that Green Monday will rank among the top online spending days of the season, but its hold on the #1 position may be slipping somewhat over time. One of the many reasons behind this dip could be that as Free Shipping Day (Friday, December 16 this year) gains in importance each year, online spending during the heaviest week of the season is being more evenly distributed throughout the week, whereas in the past there was a much higher concentration of spending during the early part of the week.

Did your business do well from the holiday shopping period? We certainly hope so.

Related posts:

• Are You Ready for the Sales Rush of Cyber Monday 2011?
• What to Expect for the 2010 Holiday Shopping Season
• Cyber Monday Hits Record High: $733 Million Spent
• How Paid Search Advertising Can Boost Your Holiday Sales
• Three Last Minute Methods to Boost Your Holiday Sales