• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, December 20, 2005

Online shopping revenues this season continue to surpass those of last year, according to all accounts. While the precise numbers differ---comScore reports gains of around 23 percent, while Nielsen//NetRatings estimates a more conservative 16 percent gain--researchers are in agreement that consumers are spending more on the Web than in the past.

What's more, the season's not over yet; last-minute purchasers still have several more shopping days before the holidays. Given the transit strike that started this morning in New York City, the Minute wouldn't be surprised if New Yorkers turned to online shopping in far higher numbers in these next few days.

What are people buying? Luxury items, apparently. Visits to sites that sell jewelry or luxury products increased by 39 percent from October to November. Coach.com alone drew 2.71 million uniques, while jewelry seller Zales.com garnered 1.72 million unique visitors.

ComScore also reported that Local.com, a local business search and shopping engine, drew 4.4 million uniques in November. While that number marks a 251 percent increase from October, it still pales in comparison to stats for the largest Internet sites. Yahoo! sites accounted for 125 million visitors, followed by MSN-Microsoft sites, which drew 115.5 million, Time Warner Network's 114.2 million and Google's 90.8 million visitors.