In a December 3rd press release, Comscore resported that Cyber Monday saw $846 million in online spending. Although spending over the holiday season to date ($12.03 billion) is down by 2% from last year, Cyber Monday's online sales were up by a whopping 15% over 2007 sales. Take a look at the following screenshot where you'll note that the preceding weekend also saw a jump in online sales by 19% over last year.
With online sales up marginally on Black Friday and significantly on Cyber Monday, analysts are still predicting a decline in the months to come. Considering that the job loss stats out today report 533,000 more jobs in the U.S. were lost in November – the biggest decline since 1974 – the outlook could look pretty grim.
HOWEVER, that depends entirely on what you are selling. For example, this is probably not the best time to start a new jewelry site. Want to know what you should sell? Read 8 Recession-Proof Product & Service Ideas for Affiliates… and stay tuned for more great recession-proof niches and product ideas. Let's prove the analysts wrong!
Although it was suggested that my rosey outlook for online spending this holiday season was overly optimistic and perhaps even quite naive, early results indicate that Black Friday shoppers have seen the light – opting to stay home and shop online instead. 
The (Canadian Thanksgiving) turkey has barely been digested and the Halloween candy hasn't yet been shelled out, but it's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas online.
When asked “What are your top three reasons for going online during the holiday season?”, 54% of participants responded that deals and discounts were their primary reason, closely followed by ‘save time/convenience' and ‘compare product prices' at 51% and 50% respectively.