This year holiday online sales have taken an important and positive turn in the minds of the average American. Savvy on-line consumers have known for a long time that the web is a source for price comparison and expediency. Now, the average consumer has stepped away from frenzied holiday shopping rituals and taken their fist step into transferring those purchases to online retailers.

While sales conducted at brick-and mortar stores are about flat this season compared with 2008, online retailing grew 4% from the beginning of November through Dec. 18 to $24.8 billion, according to Web tracking company comScore Inc. Online sales on Dec. 15 totaled $913 million, marking a one-day record for the industry. Geoffrey Fowler

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Online holiday promotions have been particularly aggressive this year and have helped more traditional shoppers look online for deals instead of trudging to traditional brick and mortar retail locations. The result, online shopping is up dramatically among large and small retailers.

But Web analytics company Coremetrics Inc. reported that sales Friday and Saturday broke expectations to increase 24% compared to the Friday and Saturday before Christmas last year, as snowstorms in the eastern U.S. prompted some consumers to do last-minute shopping online. Geoffrey Fowler

Spa Instant Gift Certificate transactions continue to ramp up nationwide and we will see sales swell right up to Christmas day. Instant online transactions create a significant advantage over mass retailer websites who are confined by shipping deadlines. Their sales will begin tapering off today.