Online shopping surging in popularity

Consumer confidence has been high this holiday shopping season, and businesses that offer electronic payments are thriving because of it. "Retailers that adopted a smarter marketing approach to commerce were able to adjust to the shifting shopping habits of their customers, whether in-store, online or via their mobile device of choice, and fully benefit from this day and the entire holiday weekend," said Jay Henderson, strategy director at IBM. A recent study by IBM revealed that 2012 Cyber Monday sales grew 30.3 percent compared to 2011, with mobile device purchases growing 96 percent. Apparel, home goods and health and beauty sales all saw more than 25 percent year-over-year increases, while department stores achieved a 43.1 percent growth in e-commerce. According to a separate report by comScore, retailers raked in an estimated $1.46 billion on Cyber Monday from electronic payments, the single-biggest online shopping day in U.S. history. From November 1 to November 26, Americans spent $16.4 billion online, a 16 percent year-over-year increase compared to the same time period in 2011. Digital content and subscriptions, electronics and computer hardware accounted for nearly three-quarters of online purchases on Cyber Monday, according to the report.