• by Masha Geller , January 4, 2002

I promise this will be the last time I talk about last year's online holiday shopping season (11/19/01 - 12/25/01). Until someone comes out with something truly significant to say, here is a synopsis from BizRate.com, which does a good job wrapping things up.

Weather and gender turned out to be the forces behind eCommerce's record sales of $6.4 billion this holiday season, with women and residents of the colder U.S. states shopping online the most. BizRate.com says these active shoppers helped increase Q4 sales by 35% to $12.4 billion, which made Q4 the strongest quarter of the year in online retail.

Despite the flagging economy, consumers not only shopped more online this year, but also spent more. Average order amounts were up 13% over last season -- averaging $126 per order -- as consumers opted to buy big-ticket items. Also, consumers spent 27% more on shipping because retailers were smarter in structuring free shipping deals this season.

Notably, BizRate found that weather does count when it comes to online shopping's performance. Alaska paved the way with 305 orders per 1,000 people, followed by New Hampshire, which saw 296 orders per 1,000 people. Sunny southern states were the biggest overall laggards this year as consumers in those states opted for the outdoor shopping experience.

Echoing Jupiter Media Metrix data from yesterday, BizRate confirmed that females dominated online purchasing by 56% on average -- a drastic shift from 3 years ago when women placed only 39% of orders. Not surprisingly, women were the majority of early bird shoppers this year, while men logged online later, especially during the last weekend prior to Christmas day when men placed 53% of orders.

There. That about sums it all up.