Online sales rose faster than expected in the U.S. on Black Friday, according to surveys.
Internet sales totalled $816 million U.S., a 26% gain on last year, said Comscore. IBM Coremetrics put the rise at 24%.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is treated by many retailers as the start of the Christmas shopping season. They offer one-off discounts to mark the occasion.
Analysts said heavy promotional activity helped drive demand.
By comparison, a report by Shoppertrak suggested that in-store Black Friday sales were up by 7% on last year, at $11.4 billion U.S.
Around 50 million Americans visited online retail sites on Friday, according to Comscore.
It said Amazon was the most popular destination, with 50% more visitors than any other retailer.
Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple were next in line, said the analytics company.
IBM Coremetrics also noted a trend towards shopping on smartphones and tablet computers.
It said Black Friday purchases made on mobile devices had accounted for 9.8% of all online sales, compared with 3.2% last year.
IBM described mobile shoppers as having had a "laser focus" since they had been more likely to view a single page on a retailer's site rather than browse what else was for sale.
IBM said Apple's iPhone and iPad had generated the most mobile internet visits to online stores, accounting for more than double the traffic originating from devices running Google's Android system.
The company also noted a jump in Black Friday related chatter on social networks. It recorded a 110% rise in discussion volumes after consumers had shared tips on how to secure products before they sold out and the best places to park.
Friday's internet sales are expected to be eclipsed today on what is referred to as Cyber Monday -- which many experts believe will be the U.S.'s busiest online shopping day of the year.
Close to 123 million Americans plan to make an online purchase according to a survey commissioned by the U.S. National Retail Federation, an industry lobby group. That would be a 15% increase on last year.
NRF said nearly eight in ten online retailers would run special promotions including "flash sales that last an hour" and "free shipping offers".
The federation also highlighted the shift to mobile devices, saying it expected 17.8 million Americans to use them to shop today, nearly five times the number in 2009.
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