As the holiday shopping season enters its final weeks, more and more people want to avoid the crowds and are shopping from home.

Online shopping revenues reached record highs the Monday after thanksgiving, totaling $608 million, according to data collected by comScore Networks.

"Online shopping continues to grow as more people become familiar and comfortable with the online experience," said Andrew Lipsman, public relations representative for comScore Networks.

Last year, online shoppers nationwide spent $7,643 million Nov. 1 through Nov. 27, while this year, shoppers spent $9,484 million during the same period, according to comScore Networks. The online shopping numbers are expected to only increase as the holiday season progresses.

This year, online consumers spent $77.5 billion for the months of January through October. Experts project another $24.3 billion will be spent November through December, Lipsman said.

This projection is supported by last year's U.S. Census Bureau report that states $19.4 billion was spent in December 2005 through electronic shopping and mail-orders. This is the highest total of any month last year, said Carol King who does survey methodology for the U.S. Census Bureau.

The number of people visiting online shopping sites also reached record highs this year.

According to Nielsen/ NetRatings, 19.2 million people visited online shopping sites on Black Friday, while an equally impressive 16.1 million people visited online shopping sites the following Monday, often referred to as Cyber Monday.

The top 10 sites visited on Cyber Monday included e-Bay, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Dell, Target, Bestbuy.com, shopzilla.com, MSN Shopping, Circuitcity.com and Overstock.com, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

"Shoppers are increasingly turning to the Internet to gather information and research products and prices for their holiday purchases," said Heather Dougherty, senior retail and travel analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings. "Retailers continue to provide a more streamlined online-shopping experience, offering gift ideas and broad product selection not only to entice online purchasing, but also to help consumers research purchases and shop more efficiently offline."

How to avoid online shopping scams

-Look for signs that the site is secure: A secure site's web address will begin 'https'; the 's' after the http means the site is secure.

-Look for contact information: A phone number is always better, but if e-mail is the only contact, make sure it is not a yahoo or hotmail but a legitimate business e-mail.

-Always use a credit card when shopping online: If you do not receive an item you bought, you can get your money back. A debit card is like cash and much harder to get your money back.

-Keep in mind that 97 percent of the sites you are going to hit are legitimate; so don't be afraid to use the Internet to do your shopping. It is a wonderful tool.

--Contributed by Laura Betterly, the president and CEO of In Touch Media Group.

Copyright Brigham Young University 12 Dec 2006