'Cyber Monday' Breaks Records

Online sales on Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, soared 21% over the previous year to a record-breaking $733 million, Marketwatch reports. Some 60% of the purchases were made from work, say comScore analysts; the average dollars spent per buyer decreased 12% from the same day a year earlier.

Cyber Monday is reputed to be biggest day of the year for online sales, when consumers order whatever they couldn’t find in brick-and-mortar stores over the Thanksgiving weekend, but comScore expects single-day sales to break the $800-million mark in the coming weeks. Amazon and Wal-Mart led the pack Monday, while Yahoo’s shopping service was the sixth-biggest seller, despite a technical failure that blocked some sales. (More holiday shopping stories.)