eBay said traffic from its Shopping.com comparison-shopping site to merchants on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) increased 61 percent over last year's Black Friday. Traffic to merchants in the Gifts and Flowers and Clothing and Accessories categories throughout the Thanksgiving holiday grew by 57 and 52 percent respectively year-over-year.

"Cyber Monday" falls on November 26 this year, and eBay noted that Cyber Monday traffic on Shopping.com outpaced Black Friday by 19 percent last year.

According to eBay's online payment service, the second Monday in December is solidifying its place as the actual busiest online shopping day of the season. In 2006, online shopping activity on PayPal was 96 percent higher on the second Monday in December than on Thanksgiving Day.