Boosted by a solid Thanksgiving weekend and rising consumer confidence, most retail watchers, including Internet Retailer, are predicting a strong online holiday shopping season. As the results of Internet Retailer's analysis of the holiday season thus far indicate, e--commerce sales increased 19.2 percent to $22.55 billion during the five-day period between Thanksgiving and the close of business on Cyber Monday, a period that Internet Retailer refers to as “Cyber 5.”

“Our data tells a story of a strong online holiday season, thanks to strong e-commerce growth, [rising] national consumer confidence and consumers' willingness to buy online,” Internet Retailer reported.

Among the other key developments in the 2018 holiday shopping season, according to Internet Retailer, are that 76 percent of shoppers planned to purchase more than one-quarter of their gifts online this year, e-commerce accounted for an estimated 15.2 percent of all retail sales during the Thanksgiving weekend and 60 percent of consumers will shop on marketplaces during the holidays.

In its report, Internet Retailer highlighted the consumer confidence data as a key factor in this year’s holiday sales. “Consumer confidence, which is based on a survey that measures consumer sentiment on current economic conditions and prospects for the next six months, is at its highest level in 18 years, according to The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey,” the report noted. “Generally speaking, when people believe the economy is doing well, they feel more secure and are more willing to spend. We expect consumer confidence to maintain at a high level through the end of the year.”

Also, Internet Retailer estimated that total retail sales (sales in stores and online) rose 6 percent over the five-day period of Thanksgiving weekend. “That’s above the 4.5 percent growth of all retail year to date, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures,” Internet Retailer said. “That suggests e-commerce penetration was roughly 15.2 percent during the Cyber 5.”