'Twas less than a week before Christmas, and I had yet to buy gifts for my husband. So I arose with the sun and rushed to the mall in hopes of beating the crowds.

My fears of a thundering heard of consumers went unrealized. In fact, as I strolled up and down the aisles of one of the nation's leading retailers, the silence was broken only by an occasional burst of overly cheery Christmas carols piped in through static-laced speakers.

At the checkout counter, while paying for our new electric toothbrush, I asked the saleslady what kind of traffic the store had seen. She shook her head, clucked her tongue and let out a great sigh.

"It's been slow, slow, slow," she said. "I haven't seen anything like this in years. People just aren't showing up. They must be buying stuff over the Internet."

While I took the saleslady's assessment of slow sales at face value, I must admit that I pooh-poohed her reasoning. After all, I thought, haven't we all seen the doomsday reports of Americans just not spending like they usually do for Christmas? That surely can't be blamed on the Internet.

Plus, didn't traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers last year prove that the Web has a long way to go before significantly dipping into their holiday sales?

Turns out that retailers, and I, were wrong. In fact, the trends established over the last couple of holiday seasons show that retailers may have something to fear from their cyberspace rivals.

While 2001 saw the worst holiday retail sales in more than a decade, online holiday sales set records last year, according to BizRate.com, a comparison shopping site and provider of real-time e-commerce research. During the 2001 holiday season, from Nov. 19 to Dec. 26, online sales reached an industry high of $6.6 billion dollars, up 36 percent compared to the same period last year.

While cybersellers saw a big percentage sales gain, their absolute numbers remain small. For instance, Wal-Mart -- the nation's largest bricks-and-mortar retailer -- sold merchandise worth $1.25 billion in a single day, November 23rd. In a typical week, Wal-Mart sells goods worth more than $3.6 billion.

Online shoppers were not just buying more items this year, they were spending more as well. Average order amounts for the holiday season increased by 13 percent to $126.77, compared to last year's average order of $112.13.

Top-performing categories were electronics (up 102 percent) and toys and games (up 69 percent). Computer hardware, the second-largest category in terms of total sales volume, was up 53 percent over last year.

The largest category, gifts and flowers, garnered more than $1.3 billion in total holiday sales, up 37 percent from last year. Digital cameras and video platforms were the two key product groups fueling the growth in online shopping.

"E-commerce has out-performed expectations this year," said Chuck Davis, president and CEO of BizRate.com. "Given the economic and political challenges of late, this resiliency proves that online shopping is more convenient for consumers. With special offers and shipping deals prominently featured online, shoppers found it easier to comparison shop site to site versus mall to mall."

During the last week of holiday sales, the number of online shoppers rose drastically over 2000, from 31.8 million to 49.9 million unique visitors, according to Jupiter Media Metrix (Nasdaq: JMXI).

"In 1999 and 2000, the world was wondering if online shopping would contribute anything significant to holiday spending, and expectations were exceeded each year," said Charles Buchwalter, vice president, media research, Jupiter Media Metrix. "This year, holiday shopping traffic stayed strong through the days just before Christmas. The consistent increases in holiday shopping traffic since Thanksgiving should silence any remaining skeptics."

The Pew Research Center offers similar findings. Pew claims that the entire population of e-shoppers continues to grow. About 58 percent of Internet users have purchased something online, compared to 51 percent a year ago. Surfers also are getting over their fears of managing an online shopping cart and protecting their credit card information.

According to Pew, close to 29 million people bought gifts online during the holiday season in 2001, and the average spent online was $392 per person. That is an increase from the approximately 20 million who bought gifts online last year and spent an average of $330.

In an average year, perhaps this increase in online holiday sales would not mean much to traditional retailers. But in a slow shopping season, it was the last thing that malls and big-box retailers needed. The threat of e-tailing must once again become a primary concern for retail real estate.

For more articles by Lesley Hensell, please press here.