Online retail spending reached $8.31 billion during the first 24 days of November this year, marking a 23 percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005. Black Friday saw online sales with $434 million spent, up 42 percent from last year, reports comScore Networks.

"With 42 percent growth versus the same day last year, it's clear that many consumers opted for the convenience and sanity of shopping from home in order to avoid mayhem at the malls and to take advantage of the extremely attractive deals being offered online. This growth figure is especially encouraging for online retailers when taking into account that much of the country saw beautiful weather on Friday," says Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Networks.

Nielsen//NetRatings announced today that web traffic to retail sites grew 12 percent year over year on Black Friday. 

eBay, according the Nielsen//NetRatings, led the top online shopping destinations on Black Friday with 7.5 million unique visitors, followed by Amazon and Wal-Mart Stores with 3.4 million and 3.2 million unique visitors, respectively.

Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings, says: "This year, shoppers went online to check out the latest in consumer electronics, including flat screen TVs and new game consoles such as the Nintendo Wii and the highly coveted Sony PlayStation 3. Apparel continues to be one of the most popular holiday gifts, as evidenced by that category's growth on Black Friday as well."

Today, known as Cyber Monday, marks another day when consumers turn to online for holiday shopping. The online analytics companies are currently compiling the web traffic information to commerce sites as the day progresses.