Spending in 2001 by consumers who logged on to the Internet through AOL was up 67 percent to $33 billion, according to America Online Inc., the world's largest Internet service provider and online shopping portal.
Of that, fourth-quarter member spending accounted for $11 billion, up 72 percent from the same period in 2000.
Holiday spending alone by these AOL members was $7.2 billion in top retail categories like apparel for women and teens, electronic games, portable and mobile electronic devices, and Harry Potter merchandise.
As expected, online shopping patterns are reflecting offline habits. For instance, women accounted for 64 percent of all shopping on the AOL platform.
Popular destinations on AOL included the Deal of the Day offerings. Items that sold out were men's cashmere sweaters, digital and Kodak cameras, women's leather jackets, down comforters and beds in a bag, AOL said.
The spending estimates measured transactions conducted by AOL subscribers on individual retail Web sites and America Online brands like AOL, AOL.com, CompuServe, Netscape and Spinner.com. Dulles, VA-based America Online is a subsidiary of media giant AOL Time Warner.
