Online sales up 12 percent from last year

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Shoppers are staying busy this holiday season, as online sales have jumped 12 percent from the same period a year ago, to $16.8 billion, says online tracking firm ComScore.

On Cyber Monday — the Monday after Thanksgiving — online sales hit a record $1.028 billion. Since then, the growth of online shopping has slowed to 9 percent from pre-Thanksgiving rates of double-digit percentage increases.

Most of the spending increases are benefiting the largest retailers, with the top 25 online retailers enjoying a 20-percent growth in dollar sales, collectively, ComScore reported Monday.

Small and mid-sized businesses have seen no growth from last year’s holiday season, which started Nov. 1. The top 25 retailers command 68 percent of online sales dollars, with the rest going to small and mid-sized businesses.