Just How Much Did We Spend on the Holidays?

It wasn’t all about the long lines and the find-the-right-size scramble for many holiday shoppers. Instead, consumers opted to simply click and ship.

Overall retail spending exceeded expectations, rising 3.6 percent from last year’s amounts, and online shopping took a huge piece of the pie – 10 percent of all retail sales to be exact. While that make seem like a small amount, consider this: On Dec. 15 alone, online retail sales reached a record $913 million. All in all, the total sales for online goods reached $12.3 billion.

While Master Card reports that in-store retail sales dipped 2.3 percent, consumers spent $12.3 billion on Internet goods. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com

Blame it on the freak East Coast snowstorm or the ease of countless shopping iPhone apps. According to government data, “The biggest jump in 2009 holiday retail spending happened online, where purchases rose 15.5 percent compared with last year,” as reported by The Washington Post.

While online shopping may seem unconventional to some, it’s a step in the right direction for greenies. Ordering multiple items that can be shipped together in one purchase decreases packaging material and transportation costs.

In fact, to have 10 pounds of packages shipped by overnight air uses 40 percent less fuel than driving yourself round-trip to the mall, according to the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions. Tack on the shopping bags, in-store samples and to-go containers consumed during a day-long trip, and you’re looking at what could be a pretty big opportunity for reducing your impact.

So, what were the top-selling items online? Looks like paperless is the way to go. Amazon reports that its electronics and e-books were major contributors to the online retail sales surge. The company touted its $259 Kindle eBook reader as the most gifted item in Amazon’s history.