Online sales for the holiday season to date (Nov. 1-27) have increased 3 percent to $10.57 billion compared with the corresponding days last year, with Black Friday representing an 11 percent increase in sales to $595 million year over year, according to the latest report from ComScore.

This makes Black Friday the second heaviest online spending day to date in 2009.

"Black Friday, better known as a shopping bonanza in brick-and-mortar retail stores, is increasingly becoming one of the landmark days in the online holiday shopping world," ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a media release. "The $595 million in online spending this Black Friday represents the second heaviest online spending day of the season to date and a double-digit increase from last year. While this acceleration in spending suggests the online holiday season may be shaping up slightly more optimistically than anticipated, it may also reflect the heavy discounting and creative promotions being put forth by retailers that now encompass the use of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter."

Fulgoni went on to say that Cyber Monday (Nov. 30) -- the traditional kickoff to the online holiday shopping season -- and the subsequent weeks will be the real test for how online retailers fare this season.

According to ComScore, five retail properties surpassed 4 million U.S. unique visitors on Black Friday, with each of these properties experiencing gains vs. last year.

Amazon Sites was the most visited retail property on Black Friday, growing 28 percent from the corresponding shopping day a year ago, followed closely by Wal-Mart, which grew 22 percent. Apple.com Worldwide Sites (up 39 percent), Target Corp. (up 2 percent) and Best Buy Sites (up 24 percent) rounded out the top five.

"Much attention has focused on Amazon and Wal-Mart this season, and both retailers performed particularly well online on Black Friday in terms of attracting visitors," Fulgoni said in the release. "We will be watching closely to see how these retailers perform during these next critical weeks of the season."

Some other notable findings in ComScore's Black Friday report include:
• The number of visitors to coupon sites on Black Friday increased 17 percent to 3.3 million visitors, compared with last year.
• BlackFriday.info was the most visited coupon site on Black Friday with 748,000 unique visitors, followed by RetailMeNot.com (356,000 visitors) and Eversave.com (253,000).
• ShopLocal.com ranked as the most visited comparison-shopping site on Black Friday with 2 million visitors, up 31 percent vs. a year ago.

ComScore measures the digital world and is a preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, visit www.Comscore.com/CompanyInfo.

Editor's Note: To share your holiday weekend sales results with The Gourmet Retailer, click here: mmoran@gourmetretailer.com

- Nielsen Business Media