Online spending has essentially remained unchanged for the first 42 days of the 2008 November-December holiday season, compared with the same period last year; however, the most recent week saw a sales decline, according to the latest research from ComScore.

According to ComScore, for the period from Nov. 1-Dec. 12, $19.44 billion has been spent online, compared with $19.49 billion for the same period in 2007, but for the period from Dec. 8-12, online sales declined 1 percent to $3.81 billion, compared with $3.86 billion for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, for the 12 days beginning Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday, the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season), online sales totaled $8.26 billion, up 3 percent versus a year ago, and Dec. 9 emerged as the highest online spending day on record.

"After a very strong first week of December, e-commerce sales growth slowed somewhat during the most recent week," ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a media release. "However, the week still managed to see a few particularly strong spending days, with sales of $887 million on Tuesday, Dec. 9, surpassing Green Monday last year (Dec. 10, 2007) as the heaviest online spending day on record."
 
The fastest-growing product categories during the period from Dec. 1-12 were apparel and accessories (up 21 percent), books and magazines (up 18 percent), and flowers, greetings and gift (up 18 percent).

The softest retail categories include office supplies (down 33 percent) and music, movies and videos (down 25 percent).

Following a strong Cyber Monday week that was driven by large discounts on products such as flat screen TVs, sales of consumer electronics have slowed in the most recent week.

Online sales in the jewelry and watches category are down 4 percent.