Cyber Monday was kind to online retailers

Today, comScore Networks released data on Cyber Monday, the back-to-work day after the Thanksgiving holiday. comScore looked at online non-travel spending, that is online retail spending at U.S. sites. ComScore also released data for the 2006 holiday season.

Well, this year's Cyber Monday beat expectations by a little. Sales on November 27th broke the $600 million mark, up 26% from the $484 million in sales on the same day last year, to $608 million, thus "marking the highest single day in retail e-commerce history." As for the first 27 days in November, total online retail spending reached $9.48 billion, a 24% increase from last year's corresponding period sales of $7.64 billion.

Despite Cyber Monday's reputation as the equivalent of Black Friday to online retailers, it hasn't actually been the highest online selling day - there are a few days within the first two weeks of December that typically eclipse it. This year will probably be the same, so we can expect even higher sales days.

ComScore noted that competition among online retailers was high, causing holiday season discounts to be significant. This, in turn, could hurt margins.

By 1:30 p.m., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) stock traded down to $31.80, losing $0.21, or 0.66% of its market value. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares were down $0.77, or 1.98% to $40.11.